Gautam Dey: Evolution and diversity of mitosis

Despite the fundamental role of cell division in the propagation of cellular life, eukaryotes have evolved a diverse range of strategies to remodel and partition organelles and cellular contents in mitosis. What drives the evolution of mitotic mechanisms? Bridging lab and field expeditions, we use a range of microbial model systems, comparative genomics, imaging and experimental evolution to probe mitotic diversity on short and long evolutionary timescales. I will present our recent work on the evolution of nuclear remodelling, the centromere-kinetochore interface, and spindle nucleation, as well as our initial efforts towards generating a pan-eukaryotic mitotic atlas.