TgrC1 Has Distinct Functions in Dictyostelium Development and Allorecognition

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 20;10(4):e0124270. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124270. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

The cell adhesion glycoproteins, TgrB1 and TgrC1, are essential for Dictyostelium development and allorecognition, but it has been impossible to determine whether their pleiotropic roles are due to one common function or to distinct functions in separate pathways. Mutations in the respective genes, tgrB1 and tgrC1, abrogate both development and allorecognition and the defects cannot be suppressed by activation of the cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase PKA, a central regulator of Dictyostelium development. Here we report that mutations in genes outside the known PKA pathway partially suppress the tgrC1-null developmental defect. We separated the pleiotropic roles of tgrC1 by testing the effects of a suppression mutation, stcinsA under different conditions. stcAins modified only the developmental defect of tgrC1- but not the allorecognition defect, suggesting that the two functions are separable. The suppressor mutant phenotype also revealed that tgrC1 regulates stalk differentiation in a cell-autonomous manner and spore differentiation in a non-cell-autonomous manner. Moreover, stcAins did not modify the developmental defect of tgrB1-, but the less robust phenotype of tgrB1- obscures the possible role of stcA relative to tgrB1.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Cell Communication
  • Cyclic AMP / metabolism
  • Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / metabolism
  • Dictyostelium / metabolism*
  • Glycoproteins / genetics
  • Glycoproteins / metabolism*
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Mutagenesis
  • Mutation*
  • Phenotype
  • Protozoan Proteins / genetics
  • Protozoan Proteins / metabolism*
  • RNA

Substances

  • Glycoproteins
  • Protozoan Proteins
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • RNA
  • Cyclic AMP
  • Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases