Localization of the Drosophila checkpoint control protein Bub3 to the kinetochore requires Bub1 but not Zw10 or Rod

• Published in: Chromosoma 1998-12, Vol.107 (6/7), p.376-385
• Main Authors: Basu, J, Lagarinho, E, Herrmann, S, Bousbaa, H, Li, Z.X, Chan, G.K.T, Yen, T.J, Sunkel, C.E, Goldberg, M.L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; amino acid sequences; Animals; Base Sequence; Cell Cycle Proteins - isolation & purification; complementary DNA; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; Drosophila melanogaster - physiology; Drosophila Proteins; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; genbank/af075594; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Immunoblotting; Insect Proteins - genetics; Insects; Kinetochores - physiology; Kinetochores - ultrastructure; Meiosis; Mitosis; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotide sequences; Protein Kinases - genetics; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Spindle Apparatus - ultrastructure
• ISSN: 0009-5915; 1432-0886
• DOI: 10.1007/s004120050321

We report here the isolation and molecular characterization of the Drosophila homolog of the mitotic checkpoint control protein Bub3. The Drosophila Bub3 protein is associated with the centromere/kinetochore of chromosomes in larval neuroblasts whose spindle assembly checkpoints have been activated by incubation with the microtubule-depolymerizing agent colchicine. Drosophila Bub3 is also found at the kinetochore regions in mitotic larval neuroblasts and in meiotic primary and secondary spermatocytes, with the strong signal seen during prophase and prometaphase becoming increasingly weaker after the chromosomes have aligned at the metaphase plate. We further show that the localization of Bub3 to the kinetochore is disrupted by mutations in the gene encoding the Drosophila homolog of the spindle assembly checkpoint protein Bub1. Combined with recent findings showing that the kinetochore localization of Bub1 conversely depends upon Bub3, these results support the hypothesis that the spindle assembly checkpoint proteins exist as a multiprotein complex recruited as a unit to the kinetochore. In contrast, we demonstrate that the kinetochore constituents Zw10 and Rod are not needed for the binding of Bub3 to the kinetochore. This suggests that the kinetochore is assembled in at least two relatively in-dependent pathways.