conclusions our results demonstrated no significant correlation between the ird5 lifespan and the trehalose concentration. likewise, the correlation between lifespan extension, trehalose accumulation, and cellular resistance to hydrogen peroxide was not significant. results the lifespan of the ird5 mutant was significantly longer that of either the ird11 mutant or the wild type cells. under rep...

In this issue, reveal that different meiotic recombination mechanisms predominate in fission yeast and budding yeast. Budding yeast usually form crossover recombinants through double Holliday junctions, whereas fission yeast unexpectedly appear to form crossover recombinants through single junctions.

Recent years have placed fission yeast at the forefront of telomere research, as this organism combines a high level of conservation with human telomeres and precise genetic manipulability. Here we highlight some of the latest knowledge of fission yeast telomere maintenance and dysfunction, and illustrate how principles arising from fission yeast research are raising novel questions about telom...

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has served as an important model organism for investigating cellular morphogenesis. This unicellular rod-shaped fission yeast grows by tip extension and divides by medial fission. In particular, microtubules appear to define sites of polarized cell growth by delivering cell polarity factors to the cell tips. Microtubules also position the cell nucleus...

The initiation of eukaryotic DNA replication is preceded by the assembly of prereplication complexes (pre-RCs) at chromosomal origins of DNA replication. Pre-RC assembly requires the essential DNA replication proteins ORC, Cdc6, and Cdt1 to load the MCM DNA helicase onto chromatin. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Noc3 (ScNoc3), an evolutionarily conserved protein originally implicated in 60S ribosomal...

We describe the characterization of a novel gene, shk2, encoding a second p21(cdc42/rac)-activated protein kinase (PAK) homolog in fission yeast. Like other known PAKs, Shk2 binds to Cdc42 in vivo and in vitro. While overexpression of either shk2 or cdc42 alone does not impair growth of wild type fission yeast cells, cooverexpression of the two genes is toxic and leads to highly aberrant cell m...

Mitochondria form a reticulum network dynamically fuse and divide in the cell. The balance between mitochondria fusion and fission is correlated to the shape, activity and integrity of these pivotal organelles. Resveratrol is a polyphenol antioxidant that can extend life span in yeast and worm. This study examined mitochondria dynamics in replicative senescent yeast cells as well as the effects...

Wee1-related kinases function in a highly conserved mechanism that controls the timing of entry into mitosis. Loss of Wee1 function causes fission yeast and budding yeast cells to enter mitosis before sufficient growth has occurred, leading to formation of daughter cells that are smaller than normal. Early work in fission yeast suggested that Wee1 is part of a cell-size checkpoint that prevents...