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Thank you Jana

10. Huge shoutout to all the scientists Arshad Desai, Elmar Schiebel, @gautamdey.bsky.social, @suebiggins.bsky.social, Guislene Pereira, Joe Heitman, Sunil Laxman, @syncellbiolab.bsky.social, and Uttam Surana for their valuable inputs and engaging discussions.

9. This work was possible with amazing colleagues & collaborators Rashi Aggarwal, Jigyasa Verma, Nitesh Podh, Ratul Chowdhury, & Gunjan Mehta, and discussions with both past and present lab members at Molecular Mycology Lab, and funding support from DBTIndia, ANRF, and JNCASR.

8. Together, we uncover an unusual function of an Atg11, a scaffolding protein in maintaining high-fidelity transmission of genetic material. Head to the paper (doi.org/10.1371/jour...) to know more.

7. We show that Atg11 facilitates dynamic instability of astral microtubules (aMTs) and prevents catastrophe frequency, which is complemented by stabilized Clb4 levels with loss of Atg11. Big thanks to @minhajs.bsky.social for discussions related to experimentation and analyses for aMT instability.

6. Consequently, we observed FEAR-defective phenotypes: delayed Cdc14 release, spindle buckling, and spindle positioning and alignment defects which are Kar9-dependent.

5. Increased mono-oriented kinetochores, sensed by the Aurora kinase BIpl1 activate the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), stabilizing securin (Pds1), and thus delaying cell cycle progression in the absence of Atg11.

To our surprise, we identified a dynamic, microtubule-dependent, pool of Atg11 at the SPBs, ‘a second home’ in addition to its cytosolic pool.

4. Are there constant pools of Atg11 at the SPBs required for MT regulation? In collaboration with Gunjan Mehta@IIT H, we utilized single-molecule tracking (SMT) to answer this.

Remarkably, Atg11 in addition to its canonical localization, also localizes at the interface of vacuole-nucleus and displays a transient association with SPBs in a cell cycle-dependent manner.

3. How does a pre-autophagosome (PAS) protein Atg11 contribute to microtubule-dependent processes? The interaction network hinted towards a physical association of Atg11 with Spc72, a spindle pole body (SPB) protein.

2. We found that loss-of-function of Atg11 displays increased sensitivity to microtubule poison, thiabendazole and higher temperature (37°C), hinting towards a role of Atg11 in the microtubule-dependent process.

1. This work started as a collaborative project between @kaustuvsanyal.bsky.social and Ravi Manjithaya labs at JNCASR. We created an interaction network of autophagy and cell cycle proteins. Intrigued by the interactions, we asked if autophagy protein(s) have any role in mitosis.