The entire DNA sequence of chromosome III of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been determined. This is the first complete sequence analysis of an entire chromosome from any organism. The 315-kilobase sequence reveals 182 open reading frames for proteins longer than 100 amino acids, of which 37 correspond to known genes and 29 more show some similarity to sequences in databases. Of 55 new open reading frames analysed by gene disruption, three are essential genes; of 42 non-essential genes that were tested, 14 show some discernible effect on phenotype and the remaining 28 have no overt function.

Background: Emerging and re-emerging pathogens imperil public health and global food security. Responding to these threats requires improved surveillance and diagnostic systems. Despite their potential, genomic tools have not been readily applied to emerging or re-emerging plant pathogens such as the wheat yellow (stripe) rust pathogen Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (PST). This is due largely to the obligate parasitic nature of PST, as culturing PST isolates for DNA extraction remains slow and tedious.

Summary The Mad1-Mad2 heterodimer is the catalytic hub of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), which controls M phase progression through a multi-subunit anaphase inhibitor, the mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC) [1, 2]. During interphase, Mad1-Mad2 generates MCC at nuclear pores [3]. After nuclear envelope breakdown (NEBD), kinetochore-associated Mad1-Mad2 catalyzes MCC assembly until all chromosomes achieve bipolar attachment [1, 2]. Mad1-Mad2 and other factors are also incorporated into the fibrous corona, a phospho-dependent expansion of the outer kinetochore that precedes microtubule attachment [4–6]. The factor(s) involved in targeting Mad1-Mad2 to kinetochores in higher eukaryotes remain controversial [7–12], and the specific phosphorylation event(s) that trigger corona formation remain elusive [5, 13]. We used genome editing to eliminate Bub1, KNL1, and the Rod-Zw10-Zwilch (RZZ) complex in human cells. We show that RZZ’s sole role in SAC activation is to tether Mad1-Mad2 to kinetochores. Separately, Mps1 kinase triggers fibrous corona formation by phosphorylating two N-terminal sites on Rod. In contrast Bub1 and KNL1 activate kinetochore-bound Mad1-Mad2 to produce a “wait anaphase” signal, but are not required for corona formation. We also show that clonal lines isolated after BUB1 disruption recover Bub1 expression and SAC function through nonsense-associated alternative splicing (NAS). Our study reveals a fundamental division of labor in the mammalian SAC and highlights a transcriptional response to nonsense mutations that can reduce or eliminate penetrance in genome editing experiments.