In addition, recent evidence suggests that telomeres organize pre-meiotic chromosomal rearrangements which are essential for the successful completion of meiosis. The fission yeast telomere protein Taz1 is a key regulator of telomere length, structure and position effects, and may play a role in preventing lethal telomere-telomere fusions. However, Taz1 is critical for viability only in cells that have initiated the sexual cycle. Taz1p is the first protein shown to be involved in telomere-SPB associations and thus provides an unprecedented foothold for studying the mechanisms underlying meiotic chromosomal rearrangements. The proposed work addresses two questions, as part of a research program that aims to define a functional telomere in its natural environment during each stage of cellular development.
Telomere clustering is initiated as part of the pheromone response.
We will determine how mutants in the pheromone-induced kinase pathways affect this switch. The structural and functional homology between Taz1 and the human telomere protein hTRF1 suggest that these studies will also illuminate both mitotic and meiotic processes in humans.