The spindle pole body of Schizosaccharomyces pombe enters and leaves the nuclear envelope as the cell cycle proceeds

The cycle of spindle pole body (SPB) duplication, differentiation, and segregation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe is different from that in some other yeasts. Like the centrosome of vertebrate cells, the SPB of S. pombe spends most of interphase in the cytoplasm, immediately next to the nuclear envelope. Some gamma-tubulin is localized on the SPB, suggesting that it plays a role in the organization of interphase microtubules (MTs), and serial sections demonstrate that some interphase MTs end on or very near to the SPB. gamma-Tubulin is also found on osmiophilic material that lies near the inner surface of the nuclear envelope, immediately adjacent to the SPB, even though there are no MTs in the interphase nucleus. Apparently, the MT initiation activities of gamma-tubulin in S. pombe are regulated. The SPB duplicates in the cytoplasm during late G(2) phase, and the two resulting structures are connected by a darkly staining bridge until the mitotic spindle forms. As the cell enters mitosis, the nuclear envelope invaginates beside the SPB, forming a pocket of cytoplasm that accumulates dark amorphous material. The nuclear envelope then opens to form a fenestra, and the duplicated SPB settles into it. Each part of the SPB initiates intranuclear MTs, and then the two structures separate to lie in distinct fenestrae as a bipolar spindle forms. Through metaphase, the SPBs remain in their fenestrae, bound to the polar ends of spindle MTs; at about this time, a small bundle of cytoplasmic MTs forms in association with each SPB. These MTs are situated with one end near to, but not on, the SPBs, and they project into the cytoplasm at an orientation that is oblique to the spindle axis. As anaphase proceeds, the nuclear fenestrae close, and the SPBs are extruded back into the cytoplasm. These observations define new fields of enquiry about the control of SPB duplication and the dynamics of the nuclear envelope.