96-00867 Weisman This project is concerned with understanding the molecular basis of organelle movement during cell division, particularly with vacuole movement from the mother cell into the bud, in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It has been demonstrated that Class V myosin and profillin are required for the migration of vacuole from the mother cell into the bud. This grant will investigate how Class V myosin interact with the membrane of the vacuole and determine if as yet unidentified components are required for vacuolar movement. Presumably, the myosin tail attaches to the vacuolar membrane. This will be determined by generating mutants of the myosin tail, expressing these in yeast, and examining the phenotype. Also, it will be determined if actin can move along isolated and fluorescently-labeled vacuole. This will be done using well established techniques for studying actin-based motility. Differentiation of many cell-type involves the polarization of their cytoplasmic organelles. It is likely that these studies will add to our knowledge of organelle partitioning in higher eukaryotes. It is likely also that the molecular basis of cellular polarization will bear some similarity with the molecular basis of organelle partitioning. The educational component of this CAREER grant involves the application of methods used mainly in small seminar courses to large lecture class. The educational component is designed to increase student motivation to learn and to make student learning a more active process. This will be done by asking questions during the lecture and by assigning scientific papers that will be discussed during the lecture. It is hoped that by involving students in these discussions they will learn the value of discovering new information and the ability to ask important, focused questions. %%% During the budding of S. cerevisiae, how are organelles moved from the mother cell into the bud? Are components of the cytoskeleton involved in this process? These are questions that w ill be investigated by this grant. Differentiation of various cell type involves the polarization of their cytoplasmic organelles. As yet, we know little about the molecular mechanism of this process. The goals of the educational component of this grant are designed to give students the excitement of discovering new information and the ability to analyze scientific data. ***
