Objective Telomeres have long been known to play crucial roles in protecting chromosome ends from attrition and fusion and thus safeguarding genome stability, but their complete functional repertoire has yet to be fully understood. Among the fundamental roles of telomeres is their role in meiosis, the process by which parental genomes are recombined and halved, allowing the generation of genetic diversity via sexual reproduction. As cells progress from mitotic to meiotic cycles, telomere functions change radically as all telomeres gather to a small region of the nuclear periphery near the centrosome to form the telomere bouquet . While this bouquet is widely conserved, the challenges of manipulating meiosis in most eukaryotes has made bouquet function a matter of speculation until recently. We utilize the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a model to study telomeres, as this organism provides a powerful combination of genetic manipulability and striking conservation of chromosomal structure/function with human. Recently, we made the unexpected discovery that the bouquet controls the behavior of meiotic centrosomes and spindles. Furthermore, we find that the bouquet is required not only for proper spindle formation, but also for attachment of meiotic chromosomes to the spindle via their centromeres. Using molecular genetics, quantitative live analysis and biochemistry, we propose to define the mechanisms by which the gathered telomeres control spindle behavior. We will also investigate what aspect of the telomere confers proper centromere-spindle attachment and what goes wrong at centromeres in cells lacking the bouquet. These studies will illuminate mechanisms of communication between chromosomes and the spindle apparatus that should be widely conserved among eukaryotes. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrynatural sciencesbiological sciencesmolecular biologymolecular geneticsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticshereditynatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticschromosomesnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomes Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-AG-LS2 - ERC Advanced Grant - Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Call for proposal ERC-2009-AdG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-AG - ERC Advanced Grant Host institution CANCER RESEARCH UK LBG EU contribution € 1 451 943,00 Address 2 Redman Place E20 1JQ LONDON United Kingdom See on map Region London Inner London — West Camden and City of London Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Holly Elphinstone (Ms.) Principal investigator Julia Promisel Cooper (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all CANCER RESEARCH UK LBG United Kingdom EU contribution € 1 451 943,00 Address 2 Redman Place E20 1JQ LONDON See on map Region London Inner London — West Camden and City of London Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Holly Elphinstone (Ms.) Principal investigator Julia Promisel Cooper (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data