SUMMARY Most vertebrate oocytes contain a Balbiani body; a large, non-membrane bound compartment packed with RNA, mitochondria and other organelles. Little is known about this compartment, though it specifies germ-line identity in many non-mammalian vertebrates. We show Xvelo, a disordered protein with an N-terminal prion-like domain, is an abundant constituent of Xenopus Balbiani bodies. Disruption of the prion-like domain of Xvelo, or substitution with a prion-like domain from an unrelated protein interferes with its incorporation into Balbiani bodies in vivo. Recombinant Xvelo forms amyloid-like networks in vitro. Amyloid-like assemblies of Xvelo recruit both RNA and mitochondria in binding assays. We propose that Xenopus Balbiani bodies form by amyloid-like assembly of Xvelo, accompanied by co-recruitment of mitochondria and RNA. Prion-like domains are found in germ plasm organizing proteins in other species, suggesting that Balbiani body formation by amyloid-like assembly could be a conserved mechanism that helps oocytes function as long-lived germ cells.

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SummaryThe widespread reorganisation of cellular architecture in mitosis is achieved through extensive protein phosphorylation, driven by the coordinated activation of a mitotic kinase network and repression of counteracting phosphatases. Phosphatase activity must subsequently be restored to promote mitotic exit. Although Cdc14 phosphatase drives this reversal in budding yeast, Protein Phosphatase 1 (PP1) and Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activities have each been independently linked to mitotic exit control in other eukaryotes1-6. We now describe a mitotic phosphatase relay in which PP1 reactivation is required for the reactivation of both PP2A-B55 and PP2A-B56 to coordinate mitotic progression and exit in fission yeast. The staged recruitment of PP1 to the regulatory subunits of PP2A-B55 and PP2A-B56 holoenzymes sequentially activates each phosphatase. The pathway is blocked in early mitosis because Cdk1-Cyclin B inhibits PP1 activity but declining Cyclin B levels later in mitosis permit PP1 to auto-reactivate1,7-10. PP1 first reactivates PP2A-B55; this enables PP2A-B55, in turn, to promote the reactivation of PP2A-B56 by dephosphorylating a PP1 docking site in PP2A-B56, thereby promoting the recruitment of PP1. PP1 recruitment to human, mitotic, PP2A holoenzymes and the sequences of these conserved PP1 docking motifs11,12 suggest that PP1 regulates PP2A-B55 and PP2A-B56 activities in a variety of signalling contexts throughout eukaryotes.