FIGURE 3:

Biased vs. unbiased MT dynamics in maintaining spindle length, position, and orientation in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. (A and B) The spindle length at metaphase was calculated in the model with biased or unbiased cMTs for both C. albicans and C. neoformans. Experimental measurements were carried out during mitosis to measure the spindle length. The model predicts that the spindle length at metaphase remains unaltered irrespective of cMT bias, as experimentally observed. (C and D) Neck to spindle distance is measured with or without cMT bias, while simultaneously comparing it with experimental data (wild type). With unbiased cMT, the spindle often failed to move to the predefined spatial positions in both ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. The spindle–neck mean distance changes from –1.0 to –3.35 μm during unbiased nucleation in ascomycetes. The spindle to neck mean distance in basidiomycetes, changes from +1.0 to –2.2 μm during unbiased nucleation. (E and F) Orientation of the spindle is calculated by measuring its tilt with respect to the mother–daughter cell axis. Unbiased cMT dynamics result in a larger angular orientation (∼42° in ascomycetes and ∼41° in basidiomycetes), with the mother–daughter cell axis reflecting the misaligned spindles for unbiased cMT dynamics. For biased cMT dynamics, the spindle aligned with the mother–daughter cell axis, and the angular orientation is measured as ∼21° ± 2.1° for ascomycetes and ∼10.25° for basidiomycetes. Red bars indicate SEM.