Abstract:
This research focuses on the production of new plasma membranes during gametogenesis in yeast. The initiation of these membranes is started by vesicle fusion at spindle pole bodies (SPBs) during Meiosis II. I have asked how these vesicles specifically fuse at SPBs but not at other locations, and demonstrated that binding interactions between soluble NSF attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) confer one layer of specificity to vesicle fusion at SPBs. Furthermore, I showed that SPBs can actively regulate a Rab GTPase, suggesting a role for SPBs in vesicle docking. My work highlights the ancestral dual roles of centrioles in microtubule organization and membrane nucleation, the latter of which is required for cilium formation in mammalian cells.