Structural and functional analysis of the nucleolus of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Yeasts are an attractive model for the study of ribosome synthesis. However, our understanding of the relationship between the structure and function of the yeast nucleolus, in which preribosomal particles are synthesized, requires further investigations using microscopic approaches and in situ molecular biology. Combining cryofixation and cryosubstitution of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we could identify morphologically distinct substructures in the nucleolus similar to the components of nucleoli of higher eukaryotes such as the fibrillar centers (FCs), the dense fibrillar component (DFC) and the granular component (GC). We complemented this morphological study by performing in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry at the electron microscopy level. Using a probe complementary to the entire rRNA transcription unit of S. pombe, we detected rDNA at the periphery of the FCs, while immunocytochemistry with antibodies specific for the RNA polymerase I and the gar1 protein provided evidence that transcription and early steps of maturation take place in the DFC that extends throughout the nucleolus. We also present evidence that preribosomal subunits may be exported along tracks to the cytoplasm through all of the pores of the nuclear envelope and not just those in the portion of the envelope close to the nucleolus.