The eukaryotic cell cycle is the sequence of events that occur during the life of a cell to bring about successful cell reproduction. The key events are S-phase when chromosomes are replicated and M-phase when the chromosomes are segregated into the two newly divided cells. These events must occur in the correct sequence and are usually co-ordinated with increase in cellular mass. The logic underpinning this simple developmental sequence has been investigated in the fission yeast using molecular genetics. This has identified the Cyclin Dependent protein Kinases (CDKs) as key in ensuring orderly progression through major cell cycle events, and the co-ordination of these events with increase in cell mass. This control system is conserved from yeast to human, and is likely to have been established at the origins of eukaryotic life, and so has been maintained for the last 1500 million years.
17:30 à 18:30
