We report here that disruption of a recently discovered kinesin-like p
rotein in Drosophila melanogaster, KLP61F, results in a mitotic mutati
on lethal to the organism. We show that in the absence of KLP61F funct
ion, spindle poles fail to separate, resulting in the formation of mon
opolar mitotic spindles. The resulting phenotype of metaphase arrest w
ith polyploid cells is reminiscent of that seen in the fungal bimC and
cut7 mutations, where it has also been shown that spindle pole bodies
are not segregated. KLP61F is specifically expressed in proliferating
tissues during embryonic and larval development, consistent with a pr
imary role in cell division. The structural and functional homology of
the KLP61F, bimC, cut7, and Eg5 kinesin-like proteins demonstrates th
e existence of a conserved family of kinesin-like molecules important
for spindle pole separation and mitotic spindle dynamics.