Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on May 4, 2007.

Genetics, Vol. 176, 1417-1429, July 2007, Copyright © 2007
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.072876

Genetic Dissection of Parallel Sister-Chromatid Cohesion Pathways

Hong Xu^*,, Charles Boone^*,,1 and Grant W. Brown^,,1,2

^* Banting and Best Department of Medical Research, Department of Medical Genetics and Microbiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada, Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada and Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada

² Corresponding author: CCBR, University of Toronto, 160 College St., Room 1206, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1, Canada.
E-mail: grant.brown{at}utoronto.ca

Sister-chromatid cohesion, the process of pairing replicated chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis, is mediated through the essential cohesin complex and a number of nonessential cohesion genes, but the specific roles of these nonessential genes in sister-chromatid cohesion remain to be clarified. We analyzed sister-chromatid cohesion in double mutants of mrc1, tof1, and csm3 and identified additive cohesion defects that indicated the existence of at least two pathways that contribute to sister-chromatid cohesion. To understand the relationship of other nonessential cohesion genes with respect to these two pathways, pairwise combinations of deletion and temperature-sensitive alleles were tested for cohesion defects. These data defined two cohesion pathways, one containing CSM3, TOF1, CTF4, and CHL1, and the second containing MRC1, CTF18, CTF8, and DCC1. Furthermore, we found that the nonessential genes are not important for the maintenance of cohesion at G₂/M. Thus, our data suggest that nonessential cohesion genes make critical redundant contributions to the establishment of sister-chromatid cohesion and define two cohesion pathways, thereby establishing a framework for understanding the role of nonessential genes in sister-chromatid cohesion.

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