Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Abstract: In eukaryotes, ploidy maintenance is very important for ensuring genome stability and proper cellular function. Mistakes in the spindle checkpoint, spindle pole body (SPB) duplication and insertion, interaction between the kinetochore and microtubules, and cytokinesis failure can all lead to an increase in ploidy. In this thesis, I described the identification of 64 non-essential genes whose deletion results in ploidy increase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, suggesting their roles in ploidy maintenance pathways. Within the increase-in-ploidy mutants, 13 diploidized through mating-type switching, while the remaining mutants increased their ploidy through different types of DNA segregation defects. Moreover, 39 mutants formed stable diploids and 3 mutants formed stable tetraploids. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that the ploidy increase in tetraploidized mutants was mainly caused by SPB attachment failure during mitosis. Together, these findings reveal new pathways involved in ploidy maintenance and contribute to defining a complete set of genes responsible for the regulation of ploidy.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Pui Shan Hung
Language: English
Subfield: Cell Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2922271834