Regulating basal body replication

Cells tightly regulate the replication of centrioles, which form the heart of centrosomes. But Shang et al. (page 1035) have found a way to decouple duplication of basal bodies, which are the unicellular equivalent of eukaryotic centrioles, from the cell cycle. It appears that γ-tubulin function is necessary to repress inappropriate replication of basal bodies.

γ-Tubulin is essential for basal body and centriole assembly and maintenance, but whether it regulated their formation was unclear.

Using systematic mutagenesis in Tetrahymena, Shang et al. identified two point mutations in the nucleotide binding domain of γ-tubulin that caused overproduction of basal bodies. Moreover, the excess structures arose in the center of the cells, as well as at the periphery where basal bodies normally reside. Thus, the mutants may allow de novo formation of basal bodies.

Significantly, only...