# Coordinating cellular events during spore development

> **NIH NIH R15** · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON · 2020 · $457,500

## Abstract

Project Summary:
This project will examine the cellular events that occur at the end of meiosis, to better understand how these
events are coordinated and regulated. Meiosis is a specialized cell division used to produce haploid cells from
diploid cells. Although some aspects of meiosis are regulated as in mitotic cells, some parts of meiosis are
regulated using distinct mechanisms.
In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, meiosis occurs during sporulation, where a diploid mother cell
will remodel its interior through meiosis and spore morphogenesis to create four haploid spores. As cells
prepare to complete meiosis II, spindle disassembly and cytokinesis must be coordinated. In the budding
yeast, meiotic cytokinesis takes place through the closure of the prospore membrane, a membrane that is
synthesized during sporulation and grows to surround the newly formed 1N DNA products of meiosis. Meiosis
II spindle disassembly and timely prospore membrane closure are regulated by Cdc15 (a Hippo-like kinase)
acting upstream of Sps1 (a STE20-family GCKIII kinase). The regulation of exit from meiosis II is distinct from
the regulation of exit from mitosis.
This project will examine how cytokinesis and spindle disassembly are coordinated in meiosis II, and will also
identify additional component important for regulating the exit of meiosis II. The experiments in this proposal
will use yeast molecular genetics, biochemistry, and imaging studies to provide a more detailed understanding
of meiosis II spindle disassembly, how this is coordinated with timely prospore membrane closure, and the
molecular targets used to regulate these processes. The work in the proposal will also begin to define other
components involved in regulating exit of meiosis II, and will provide a better understanding of the the signaling
pathway using Cdc15 and Sps1.
The knowledge gained from this project will contribute to the fundamental understanding of meiotic cell cycle
regulation and how cellular processes are coordinated. These studies will also contribute to our knowledge of
fungal biology, which is important because fungi are commensal organisms (as part of the fungal microbiome)
and can also become pathogenic.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10114442
- **Project number:** 2R15GM086805-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** LINDA S. HUANG
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $457,500
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2009-09-21 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10114442

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10114442, Coordinating cellular events during spore development (2R15GM086805-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10114442. Licensed CC0.

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