Identification of mutants with increased variation in cell size at onset of mitosis in fission yeast.

Fission yeast cells divide at a similar cell length with little variation about the mean. This is thought to be the result of a control mechanism that senses size and corrects for any deviations by advancing or delaying onset of mitosis. Gene deletions that advance cells into mitosis at a smaller size or delay cells entering mitosis, have identified genes potentially involved in this mechanism. However, the molecular basis of this control is still not understood. In this work, we have screened for genes, which when deleted, increase the variability in size of dividing cells. The strongest candidate of this screen was mga2 The mga2 deletion shows a greater variation in cell length at division, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 15-24% while the wild type strain has a CV of 5-8%. Furthermore, unlike wild type cells, the mga2 deletion cells are unable to correct cell size deviations within one cell cycle. We show that the mga2 gene genetically interacts with nem1 and influences the nuclear membrane, and speculate that it may influence the nucleus/cytoplasmic transport of CDK regulators.