Determining which Domain of Iqg1 Binds to Formins during Cytokinesis

The final step in cell division is cytokinesis. Cytokinesis must be coordinated with mitosis in order to prevent aneuploidy. Budding yeast are a good model organism for studying cytokinesis due to genetic and molecular tools and inexpensive growth medium. Iqg1 is a protein that has been shown to regulate cytokinesis in budding yeast cells. The Iqg1 protein contains four domains: IQ motifs that are needed for localization of Iqg1 to the contractile ring, a CHD domain required for actin recruitment, a GAP domain essential for contraction, and a RGCT domain that was predicted to interact with formins Bni1 and Bnr1. However, we found that a deletion of the RGCT domain of the protein is still able to interact with the formins and is required for cell viability. Our current goal is to determine domain of the protein that is responsible for formin binding using different mutant strains