Statistical analysis of nondisjunction assays in Drosophila.

Many advances in the understanding of meiosis have been made by measuring how often errors in chromosome segregation occur. This process of nondisjunction can be studied by counting experimental progeny, but direct measurement of nondisjunction rates is complicated by not all classes of nondisjunctional progeny being viable. For X chromosome nondisjunction in Drosophila female meiosis, all of the normal progeny survive, while nondisjunctional eggs produce viable progeny only if fertilized by sperm that carry the appropriate sex chromosome.

Hypoxia transiently sequesters mps1 and polo to collagenase-sensitive filaments in Drosophila prometaphase oocytes.

Background: The protein kinases Mps1 and Polo, which are required for proper cell cycle regulation in meiosis and mitosis, localize to numerous ooplasmic filaments during prometaphase in Drosophila oocytes. These filaments first appear throughout the oocyte at the end of prophase and are disassembled after egg activation.

Methodology/principal Findings: We showed here that Mps1 and Polo proteins undergo dynamic and reversible localization to static ooplasmic filaments as part of an oocyte-specific response to hypoxia.