Meiosis is the process by which haploid gametes are produced from a diploid cell. It is a specialised form of cell division which involves one round of DNA replication followed by two rounds of chromosome segregation. Errors in the segregation process can give rise to aneuploidy, which can result in miscarriages and birth defects. In the first meiotic division homologous chromosomes are segregated, and sister chromatids are segregated in the second division. This is coordinated with two rounds of spindle microtubule assembly and disassembly. How these two processes are coordinated is unknown. In my PhD, I study the role of the protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) regulatory subunit, Cdc55, in budding yeast meiosis. PP2A is a conserved heterotrimeric enzyme that has important roles in mitosis and meiosis. These roles are dictated by binding to either of its two regulatory subunits, Rts1 and Cdc55, in budding yeast . I show that Cdc55 is required for the proper assembly of a meiotic spindle in meiosis I, through the maintenance of the Cdc14 phosphatase in the nucleolus early in meiosis. In addition, Cdc55 is also required to limit the formation of PP2A complexes with the Rts1 regulatory subunit, and this is essential for the timely dissolution of sister chromatid cohesion. Thus, Cdc55 couples spindle assembly with chromosome segregation through its interactions with Cdc14 and PP2ARts1. Finally, I show some preliminary studies looking at the possible downstream effectors of Cdc14 that are important in this mechanism.

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