Cell Cycle Regulation

The major reason for the undertaking of this research is to understand how cytokinesis is regulated by the cell cycle. The interesting thing is that it only occurs after mitosis, but how is that so well-controlled and maintained? For this segment of research, we focused on a specific budding yeast gene called slk19. This gene is a component of spindle dynamics and the FEAR (Cdc Fourteen Early Anaphase Release) pathway. We looked at a mutated version of slk19, and compared the timing of actin ring formation in mutants compared to control yeast cells. Based on preliminary results, we found that cells with the mutated version prematurely undergo the process of cytokinesis. This kind of research is helpful because it helps us understand the cell cycle of the human body