Meiosis, the specialised two-stage cell division that produces eggs and sperm, involves a significant reorganisation of the canonical cell-cycle machinery. Swan and Schüpbach have been studying this important developmental change to this machinery and now report that two anaphase-promoting complexes - APCFzy and APCCort -cooperate during female meiosis in Drosophila (see p. 891). During mitosis, the E3 ubiquitin ligase APC and the adaptor protein Fzy target cyclins for destruction during anaphase. By examining various single and double mutants, the researchers reveal that Cort, a diverged Fzy homologue expressed in the female germline of Drosophila, functions with Fzy to drive anaphase in meiosis I and II. Both adaptors, they show, control global cyclin destruction but also the local destruction of spindle-associated cyclin B during meiosis II. The researchers suggest, therefore, that during female meiosis in Drosophila, the germline-specific APCCort cooperates with the more general APCFzy to target cyclins for destruction and allow progression through the two meiotic divisions.
APC doubles up to regulate female meiosis
APC doubles up to regulate female meiosis. Development 1 March 2007; 134 (5): e503. doi:
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