The mitotic roles of Polo-like kinase.

The Polo-like protein kinases (Plks) are a conserved family of enzymes that play a variety of roles in the passage of cells through M phase (for reviews see Glover et al., 1998; Nigg, 1998). Named after the Drosophila polo gene originally identified through a recessive maternal effect lethal mutation, conserved Plk homologues have been identified in yeast, Xenopus, C. elegans and mammals. The interactions presented here represent information drawn from all these systems and integrated to form an overall picture. As with any undertaking of this type, there will be slight inconsistencies between specific roles for Plks in different species.