Yeast nuclei (blue) with close neighbors grow more slowly than those with lots of surrounding cytoplasm.

Like great architects, yeast cells have an impeccable sense of proportion. Whether the cells are large or small, they manage to keep their nucleus about the same relative size, Neumann and Nurse report.

How cells determine the dimensions of the nucleus and other membrane-wrapped organelles is a mystery. One hypothesis suggests that nuclear volume depends on variables that include the amount of DNA and how compact it is. However, that hypothesis falters on the question of why different cells within an organism often have different-sized nuclei. Neumann and Nurse went looking for another mechanism.

The scientists measured cells and nuclei in fission yeast that ranged in size from tiny spores to hefty, nondividing mutants. No matter the yeast's girth, the volume of the nucleus remained close to 8% of...

The Rockefeller University Press
2007
The Rockefeller University Press
2007
You do not currently have access to this content.