Chandni Bhickta

Jan 14, 2025 | biorxiv.org | Oane J Gros |Chandni Bhickta |Yannick Schwab |Granita Lokaj

AbstractEffective visualization of 3D microscopy data is essential for communicating biological results. While scientific 3D rendering software is specifically designed for this purpose, it often lacks the flexibility found in non-scientific software like Blender, which is a free and open-source 3D graphics platform. However, loading microscopy data in Blender is not trivial.

May 22, 2024 | nature.com | Hiral Shah |Marine Olivetta |Chandni Bhickta |Paolo Ronchi |Eelco C. Tromer |Yannick Schwab | +4 more

Eukaryotes have evolved towards one of two extremes along a spectrum of strategies for remodelling the nuclear envelope during cell division: disassembling the nuclear envelope in an open mitosis or constructing an intranuclear spindle in a closed mitosis1,2. Both classes of mitotic remodelling involve key differences in the core division machinery but the evolutionary reasons for adopting a specific mechanism are unclear. Here we use an integrated comparative genomics and ultrastructural imaging approach to investigate mitotic strategies in Ichthyosporea, close relatives of animals and fungi. We show that species in this clade have diverged towards either a fungal-like closed mitosis or an animal-like open mitosis, probably to support distinct multinucleated or uninucleated states. Our results indicate that multinucleated life cycles favour the evolution of closed mitosis. We analyse cell division in ichthyosporeans and find that multinucleated life cycles favour the evolution of closed mitosis, in which the cell constructs a spindle within an intact nucleus.