The spindle pole body of the pathogenic yeast Exophiala dermatitidis: Variation in morphology and positional relationship to the nucleolus and the bud in interphase cells

Abstract

The spindle pole body (SPB) in the interphase cell of the pathogenic yeast Exophiala dermatitidis was studied in detail. The SPB was located on the outer nuclear envelope and was 342 ± 86 nm long in a haploid strain. It consisted of two disk elements that measured 151 ± 43 nm in diameter and 103 ± 17 nm in thickness, connected by a rod-shaped midpiece that measured 56 ± 20 nm in length and 37 ± 9 nm in diameter. There were considerable variations in size and morphology of interphase SPB. Some disk elements appeared spherical but others were more flattened, and there was variation in electron density. A few SPBs did not have the midpiece. The SPB of a diploid strain was 486 ± 118 nm long, thus significantly bigger than that of the haploid strain. The SPB tended to be localized away from the nucleolus (110° ± 48°), but close to the bud (78° ± 45°). The present study highlights the necessity of observing a large number of micrographs in three-dimensions to describe accurately the ultrastructure of the SPB in yeast.