Inheritance of cell organelles in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a closer look at peroxisomes.

Every eukaryotic cell is subdivided into specialized, membrane-enclosed compartments. Each compartment or cell organelle contains its own characteristic structural and functional properties. Common organelles present in the cytosol of every eukaryotic cell, is the nucleus, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, endosomes and peroxisomes. [1] At first glance it would seem that cells that divide by median fission (for instance, mammalian cells) need only to disperse their organelles randomly in the cytoplasm to achieve organelle inheritance on cytokinesis. However, organelle inheritance in these cells has also been shown to be an ordered process involving the cytoskeleton and motor proteins. [2] [3] In this paper I will highlight the common mechanism of inheritance, following on, I’ll explain how peroxisomes use the common mechanism, because a lot of research is done on peroxisomes. I will continue with the proteins needed and how these proteins work together to accomplish successful inheritance of the peroxisomes. Lastly, I will have a look at how the inheritance mechanism discriminates between “healthy” and “unhealthy” peroxisomes.