Although centrosomes serve to organize microtubules in most cell types, oocyte spindles form and mediate meiotic chromosome segregation in their absence. Here, we use high-resolution imaging of both bipolar and experimentally-generated monopolar spindles in C. elegans to reveal a surprising organization of microtubules and chromosomes within acentrosomal structures. We find that homologous chromosome pairs (bivalents) are surrounded by microtubule bundles running along their sides, whereas microtubule density is extremely low at chromosome ends despite a concentration of kinetochore proteins on those regions. Further, we find that the chromokinesin KLP-19 is targeted to a ring around the center of each bivalent and provides a polar ejection force required for congression. Together, these observations create a new picture of chromosome/microtubule association in acentrosomal spindles and reveal a mechanism by which metaphase alignment can be achieved utilizing this organization. Specifically, we propose that: 1) Ensheathment by lateral microtubule bundles places spatial constraints on the chromosomes, thereby promoting biorientation, and 2) Localized motors mediate movement along these bundles, thereby promoting alignment.

During cell division, chromosomes attach to spindle microtubules at sites called kinetochores, and force generated at the kinetochore-microtubule interface is the main driver of chromosome movement. Surprisingly, kinetochores are not required for chromosome segregation on acentrosomal spindles in Caenorhabditis elegans oocytes, but the mechanism driving chromosomes apart in their absence is not understood. In this study, we show that lateral microtubule–chromosome associations established during prometaphase remain intact during anaphase to facilitate separation, defining a novel form of kinetochore-independent segregation. Chromosome dynamics during congression and segregation are controlled by opposing forces; plus-end directed forces are mediated by a protein complex that forms a ring around the chromosome center and dynein on chromosome arms provides a minus-end force. At anaphase onset, ring removal shifts the balance between these forces, triggering poleward movement along lateral microtubule bundles. This represents an elegant strategy for controlling chromosomal movements during cell division distinct from the canonical kinetochore-driven mechanism.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06462.001

Female reproductive cells of most species lack centrosomes, but how spindles form in their absence is poorly understood. Study of oocytes in Caenorhabditis elegans uncovers new steps in this process and reveals mechanisms required for acentrosomal spindle bipolarity via studies of two proteins, KLP-18/kinesin-12 and MESP-1.

Organisms that reproduce sexually must reduce their chromosome number by half during meiosis to generate haploid gametes. To achieve this reduction in ploidy, organisms must devise strategies to couple sister chromatids so that they stay together during the first meiotic division (when homologous chromosomes separate) and then segregate away from one another during the second division. Here we review recent findings that shed light on how Caenorhabditis elegans, an organism with holocentric chromosomes, deals with these challenges of meiosis by differentiating distinct chromosomal subdomains and remodeling chromosome structure during prophase. Furthermore, we discuss how features of chromosome organization established during prophase affect later chromosome behavior during the meiotic divisions. Finally, we illustrate how analysis of holocentric meiosis can inform our thinking about mechanisms that operate on monocentric chromosomes.During sexual reproduction, diploid chromosome number must be reduced in half to generate haploid gametes. This reduction in chromosome number is accomplished during meiosis, a specialized cell division program in which a single round of DNA replication is followed by two rounds of chromosome segregation. During prophase of meiosis I, homologous chromosomes pair, align, and undergo crossover recombination between their DNA molecules. These crossovers collaborate with sister chromatid cohesion (SCC) to create temporary physical links, called chiasmata, that connect homologs and allow them to orient and then segregate toward opposite poles of the meiosis I spindle, thereby achieving reduction in ploidy. The reductional meiosis I division is followed by an equational meiosis II division, akin to mitosis, in which sister chromatids are segregated to opposite spindle poles.Chromosome segregation during meiosis presents two special challenges for the cell division machinery: (1) SCC must be released in two steps. This is necessary to allow release of chiasmata and reductional segregation in meiosis I, while retaining a local region of sister cohesion necessary to align chromosomes and to maintain sister connections until anaphase of meiosis II. (2) Sister chromatids must be temporarily ''co-oriented'' during meiosis I, so that they move together to the same spindle pole. Sister chromatids must then switch their behavior, becoming ''bioriented'' on the meiosis II spindle so that they can move apart toward opposite spindle poles.In organisms with monocentric chromosomes, the single localized centromere serves as the focal point for mechanisms that serve to co-orient sister chromatids at meiosis I and for mechanisms that promote local protection of cohesion to allow two-step release of SCC (Sakuno and Watanabe 2009). In contrast, organisms with holocentric chromosomes, which do not have a localized centromere, cannot rely on a single predefined site to regulate sister chromatid co-orientation and the two-step loss of cohesion during meiosis.Although monocentric chromosome organization is more...

In many species, oocyte meiosis is carried out in the absence of centrioles. As a result, microtubule organization, spindle assembly, and chromosome segregation proceed by unique mechanisms. Here, we report insights into the principles underlying this specialized form of cell division, through studies of C. elegans KLP-15 and KLP-16, two highly homologous members of the kinesin-14 family of minus-end-directed kinesins. These proteins localize to the acentriolar oocyte spindle and promote microtubule bundling during spindle assembly; following KLP-15/16 depletion, microtubule bundles form but then collapse into a disorganized array. Surprisingly, despite this defect we found that during anaphase, microtubules are able to reorganize into a bundled array that facilitates chromosome segregation. This phenotype therefore enabled us to identify factors promoting microtubule organization during anaphase, whose contributions are normally undetectable in wild-type worms; we found that SPD-1 (PRC1) bundles microtubules and KLP-18 (kinesin-12) likely sorts those bundles into a functional orientation capable of mediating chromosome segregation. Therefore, our studies have revealed an interplay between distinct mechanisms that together promote spindle formation and chromosome segregation in the absence of structural cues such as centrioles.