Aaron Neiman, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology Life Sciences Building Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11794-5215 Office telephone: 631-632-1543 Lab telephone: 631-632-1421 Fax: 631-632-8575 E-mail: Aaron.Neiman@sunysb.edu
Research Description

In response to starvation, diploid cells of the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae differentiate into haploid spores. The process of spore formation involves a form of cell division in which the four daughter nuclei produced by meiosis are encapsulated within newly formed plasma membranes termed prospore membranes. Subsequent to the closure of the prospore membrane, a complex coat called a spore wall is formed around each spore, which provides the spore with resistance to environmental stresses. Our lab is studying the molecular mechanisms underlying both the formation and growth of the prospore membrane as well as the assembly of the spore wall. These studies take us into a variety of areas of cell biology including vesicle trafficking, membrane fusion, cytokinesis, signal transduction, and extracellular matrix assembly.

Stages of spore formation: Blue indicates the plasma membrane, red the nuclear envelope, and green the prospore membrane. The black “T”s on the periphery of the nucleus indicate the spindle poles and the thick gray represents the spore wall.

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