Figure 6.
Simulation of microtubule amplification driven by severing. (A) Time evolution of the fraction of extinctions in WT, spr1, 3x-eb1, and clasp mutants. Extinctions are more likely in less stable mutants, i.e., mutants that are less deep into the unbounded growth regimen. (B) Time evolution of the average number of microtubules during the amplification process shows that a lower probability of rescue after severing and a less deep unbounded growth regimen in 3x-eb1 and clasp mutants result in a slower amplification compared with spr1 and WT. (C and D) Time evolution of the fraction of extinctions in WT with clasp intrinsic rescue rate, and WT with clasp rescue after severing probability in silico mutants, shows that even if the two reduced rescue parameters have a similar effect on the extinction probability (C), the probability of rescue after severing Ps,+ has a greater impact on the amplification process (D). Indeed WT microtubules with clasp Ps,+ perform an amplification that almost completely reproduces the clasp results (dashed purple curve).