I do have projects similar to Janson et al, 2007 Cell to propose to you.
Spindle dynamics in meiosis I & II have not been well characterized (see attached movie). During meiosis, two haploid (1N) cells mate/fuse and become one large diploid (2N) cell. This diploid zygote duplicates its DNA (4N) and forms one meiosis I spindle to segregate the DNA into 2 X 2N, then it forms simultaneously 2 meiosis II spindles to segregate the DNA into 4 X 1N haploid spores. These spores will become 4 new (1N) baby cells.
There are fundamental questions which we can address:
1. How and why meiosis I spindle is two times longer compared to meiosis II spindles ? In principle, the cell size has not changed, and the motors and MAPs which organize the spindles are the same. By analyzing meiosis I & II spindles, and making mutations of motors and MAPs known to regulate spindle mechanics, we will learn the differences between meiosis I and II. …show more content…
Related to above, how does the concept of organelle/spindle "scaling" works in the context of one cell ? It is known in different organisms that spindle length scale with cell length, i.e., small cells have small spindles, and large cells have large spindles. Here we have 2 different spindle lengths in one size cell. This question is more abstract and conceptual. But the system may be useful to dissect and define this concept, both experimentally and