Developmentally regulated selective autophagy determines ER inheritance by gametes

Figures & data

Figure 1. Model of ER inheritance and degradation during meiosis. Top: During meiosis, the cortical ER undergoes a transition from continuous to fragmented, leading to the collapse of most cortical ER. ER fragments that are closely associated with ER-plasma membrane tethers are retained at the cell cortex and excluded from gametes (1). Developmentally timed Atg40 expression mediates the degradation of a subset of collapsed ER by selective autophagy (2), and a subset of collapsed ER is inherited by gametes (3). Bottom: Speculative model for ER quality control during meiosis. We propose that markers of damaged or stressed ER, including lumenal protein aggregates, can be eliminated by selective targeting to cortically retained ER fragments (1) and/or degradation by selective autophagy (2), ensuring that only healthy ER is passed on to gametes (3). Right: Outline of three distinct ER fates during meiosis, highlighting key mediators. Figure adapted from reference 1.