Yeast nuclear envelope subdomains with distinct abilities to resist membrane expansion

Joseph L. Campbell, Alexander Lorenz, Keren L. Witkin, Thomas Hays, Joseph Loidl, Orna Cohen-Fix

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

76 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Little is known about what dictates the round shape of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae nucleus. In spo7Δ mutants, the nucleus is misshapen, exhibiting a single protrusion. The Spo7 protein is part of a phosphatase complex that represses phospholipid biosynthesis. Here, we report that the nuclear protrusion of spo7Δ mutants colocalizes with the nucleolus, whereas the nuclear compartment containing the bulk of the DNA is unaffected. Using strains in which the nucleolus is not intimately associated with the nuclear envelope, we show that the single nuclear protrusion of spo7Δ mutants is not a result of nucleolar expansion, but rather a property of the nuclear membrane. We found that in spo7Δ mutants the peripheral endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane was also expanded. Because the nuclear membrane and the ER are contiguous, this finding indicates that in spo7Δ mutants all ER membranes, with the exception of the membrane surrounding the bulk of the DNA, undergo expansion. Our results suggest that the nuclear envelope has distinct domains that differ in their ability to resist membrane expansion in response to increased phospholipid biosynthesis. We further propose that in budding yeast there is a mechanism, or structure, that restricts nuclear membrane expansion around the bulk of the DNA.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1768-1778
Number of pages11
JournalMolecular Biology of the Cell
Volume17
Issue number4
Early online date8 Feb 2006
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2006

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