PLoS ONE article from Boye's group recommended by “Faculty of 1000”

J.H. Knutsen
J.H. Knutsen
Jon Halvor Knutsen in Erik Boye’s research group has published an article in PLoS ONE where the authors describe a sophisticated method to analyze yeast cells by flow cytometry. The methods presented greatly facilitates analysis of the cell-cycle progression of fission yeast cells, which is a favourite organism for cell-cycle research. The Boye group has collaborated with Trond Stokke’s group, which has expert competence in flow cytometry and has helped develop these methods that will facilitate and promote cell-cycle analyses with yeast cells. After its publication in PLoS ONE the article was selected by “Faculty of 1000” as a recommended article.

From the "Faculty of 1000" article

This interesting paper reveals how flow cytometry can be used to identify fission yeast cells at different stages of the cell cycle. This important technical advance will be of much use to researchers using this model organism.

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has proved to be an excellent model organism in which to study the cell division cycle. However, one feature of its life cycle, the fact that dividing cells do not complete cytokinesis and fully separate until after S-phase of the following cell cycle, has limited the use of flow cytometry to identify at which stage cells are at of the cell cycle. Conventional flow cytometry, which measures DNA content, cannot distinguish between single fission yeast cells in G2 and two joined cells which are both in G1, as both show in this haploid organism a 2C DNA content.

This paper describes a refinement of the use of flow cytometry that takes advantage of the different shape of fission yeast cells at different stages of the cell cycle, so that the method can be used to measure different DNA contents. This has allowed cells in G1, S and G2 to be distinguished. This useful technical advance will be a great boon to researchers using fission yeast, and will allow many new avenues of study.

Links

Cell-cycle analysis of fission yeast cells by flow cytometry.
Knutsen JH, Rein ID, Rothe C, Stokke T, Grallert B, Boye E.
PLoS One. 2011 Feb 28;6(2):e17175.

The "Faculty of 1000" article, from their "Evaluations" section

Home page of Erik Boye's group - Cell-cycle regulation in eukaryotes

Home page of Trond Stokke's group - Molecular Radiation Biology

 
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