Regulation of Actomyosin Ring Formation during Cytokinesis by Iqg1 and Phosphorylation

Cytokinesis is the division of a cell into two daughter cells. Budding yeast is a useful model organism because, like higher eukaryotes, it requires an actomyosin ring. My research focuses on Iqg1, which is required for cytokinesis and is related to IQGAP proteins in human cells. Phosphorylation of Iqg1 has been shown to regulate the proper timing of assembly of the actomyosin ring. One aim of my project was to investigate the function of Iqg1 phosphorylation at specific amino acids in cytokinesis. The second goal was to determine the effect of phosphorylation on binding of Iqg1 to formin proteins, Bnr1 and Bni1. This research is important for the understanding the regulation of cytokinesis and how this process can be perturbed in cancer cells