Life after meiosis: patterning the angiosperm male gametophyte

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 577-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Borg ◽  
David Twell

Pollen grains represent the highly reduced haploid male gametophyte generation in angiosperms. They play an essential role in plant fertility by generating and delivering twin sperm cells to the embryo sac to undergo double fertilization. The functional specialization of the male gametophyte and double fertilization are considered to be key innovations in the evolutionary success of angiosperms. The haploid nature of the male gametophyte and its highly tractable ontogeny makes it an attractive system to study many fundamental biological processes, such as cell fate determination, cell-cycle progression and gene regulation. The present mini-review encompasses key advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling male gametophyte patterning in angiosperms. A brief overview of male gametophyte development is presented, followed by a discussion of the genes required at landmark events of male gametogenesis. The value of the male gametophyte as an experimental system to study the interplay between cell fate determination and cell-cycle progression is also discussed and exemplified with an emerging model outlining the regulatory networks that distinguish the fate of the male germline from its sister vegetative cell. We conclude with a perspective of the impact emerging data will have on future research strategies and how they will develop further our understanding of male gametogenesis and plant development.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Ji ◽  
Shuwen Zhang ◽  
Kurt Reynolds ◽  
Ran Gu ◽  
Moira McMahon ◽  
...  

Cranial neural crest (NC) cells migrate long distances to populate the future craniofacial regions and give rise to various tissues, including facial cartilage, bones, connective tissues, and cranial nerves. However, the mechanism that drives the fate determination of cranial NC cells remains unclear. Using single-cell RNA sequencing combined genetic fate mapping, we reconstructed developmental trajectories of cranial NC cells, and traced their differentiation in mouse embryos. We identified four major cranial NC cell lineages at different status: pre-epithelial-mesenchymal transition, early migration, NC-derived mesenchymal cells, and neural lineage cells from embryonic days 9.5 to 12.5. During migration, the first cell fate determination separates cranial sensory ganglia, the second generates mesenchymal progenitors, and the third separates other neural lineage cells. We then focused on the early facial prominences that appear to be built by undifferentiated, fast-dividing NC cells that possess similar transcriptomic landscapes, which could be the drive for the facial developmental robustness. The post-migratory cranial NC cells exit the cell cycle around embryonic day 11.5 after facial shaping is completed and initiates further fate determination and differentiation processes. Our results demonstrate the transcriptomic landscapes during dynamic cell fate determination and cell cycle progression of cranial NC lineage cells and also suggest that the transcriptomic regulation of the balance between proliferation and differentiation of the post-migratory cranial NC cells can be a key for building up unique facial structures in vertebrates.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kotaro Torii ◽  
Keisuke Inoue ◽  
Keita Bekki ◽  
Kazuya Haraguchi ◽  
Minoru Kubo ◽  
...  

Abstract The basis of toti/pluripotency is elaborate regulation of cell-cycle progression and cell-fate determination. Circadian clocks are involved in this process, but the underlying mechanisms have not been studied due to technical limitations. In particular, there is a lack of research on the universality of cell differentiation mechanisms in multicellular organisms using plants with high cell-fate plasticity. Here, exploiting in vivo single-cell RNA sequencing and a new actual time reconstitution method, PeakMacth, we analyzed actual time-series of cell reprogramming and differentiation processes at single-cell resolution, and found that the circadian clock modulates cell differentiation via BES1-mediated GSK3 signaling, which has a β-catenin-like function in Arabidopsis. In this pathway, the clock gene LUX in meristematic stem cells directly targets the CYCD and RETINOBLASTOMA-RELATED (RBR) genes, which are commonly involved in cell-cycle progression and cell-fate determination in plants and animals. In addition, the rhythmicity of the circadian clock was associated with cell state, and the establishment of the circadian rhythm preceded cell differentiation. Thus, our study not only reveals the involvement of the circadian clock in the differentiation of plant stem cells but also demonstrates functionally analogous features in the regulatory system of cell differentiation across species.


Development ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 138 (11) ◽  
pp. 2223-2234 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Fox ◽  
V. E. Vought ◽  
M. Hanazawa ◽  
M.-H. Lee ◽  
E. M. Maine ◽  
...  

Open Biology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 140156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier J. Colin ◽  
Karolina O. Hain ◽  
Lindsey A. Allan ◽  
Paul R. Clarke

Anti-cancer drugs that disrupt mitosis inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis, although the mechanisms of these responses are poorly understood. Here, we characterize a mitotic stress response that determines cell fate in response to microtubule poisons. We show that mitotic arrest induced by these drugs produces a temporally controlled DNA damage response (DDR) characterized by the caspase-dependent formation of γH2AX foci in non-apoptotic cells. Following exit from a delayed mitosis, this initial response results in activation of DDR protein kinases, phosphorylation of the tumour suppressor p53 and a delay in subsequent cell cycle progression. We show that this response is controlled by Mcl-1, a regulator of caspase activation that becomes degraded during mitotic arrest. Chemical inhibition of Mcl-1 and the related proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-x L by a BH3 mimetic enhances the mitotic DDR, promotes p53 activation and inhibits subsequent cell cycle progression. We also show that inhibitors of DDR protein kinases as well as BH3 mimetics promote apoptosis synergistically with taxol (paclitaxel) in a variety of cancer cell lines. Our work demonstrates the role of mitotic DNA damage responses in determining cell fate in response to microtubule poisons and BH3 mimetics, providing a rationale for anti-cancer combination chemotherapies.


Cell Cycle ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (20) ◽  
pp. 3246-3257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Pfeuty ◽  
Thérèse David-Pfeuty ◽  
Kunihiko Kaneko

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Shindo ◽  
Amanda A. Amodeo

AbstractThe early embryos of many species undergo a switch from rapid, reductive cleavage divisions to slower, cell fate-specific division patterns at the Mid-Blastula Transition (MBT). The maternally loaded histone pool is used to measure the increasing ratio of nuclei to cytoplasm (N/C ratio) to control MBT onset, but the molecular mechanism of how histones regulate the cell cycle has remained elusive. Here, we show that excess histone H3 inhibits the DNA damage checkpoint kinase Chk1 to promote cell cycle progression in the Drosophila embryo. We find that excess H3-tail that cannot be incorporated into chromatin is sufficient to shorten the embryonic cell cycle and reduce the activity of Chk1 in vitro and in vivo. Removal of the Chk1 phosphosite in H3 abolishes its ability to regulate the cell cycle. Mathematical modeling quantitatively supports a mechanism where changes in H3 nuclear concentrations over the final cell cycles leading up to the MBT regulate Chk1-dependent cell cycle slowing. We provide a novel mechanism for Chk1 regulation by H3, which is crucial for proper cell cycle remodeling during early embryogenesis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne L. A. Fairchild ◽  
Simranjeet K. Cheema ◽  
Joanna Wong ◽  
Keiko Hino ◽  
Sergi Simó ◽  
...  

Abstract In the neural progenitors of the developing central nervous system (CNS), cell proliferation is tightly controlled and coordinated with cell fate decisions. Progenitors divide rapidly during early development and their cell cycle lengthens progressively as development advances to eventually give rise to a tissue of the correct size and cellular composition. However, our understanding of the molecules linking cell cycle progression to developmental time is incomplete. Here, we show that the microRNA (miRNA) let-7 accumulates in neural progenitors over time throughout the developing CNS. Intriguingly, we find that the level and activity of let-7 oscillate as neural progenitors progress through the cell cycle by in situ hybridization and fluorescent miRNA sensor analyses. We also show that let-7 mediates cell cycle dynamics: increasing the level of let-7 promotes cell cycle exit and lengthens the S/G2 phase of the cell cycle, while let-7 knock down shortens the cell cycle in neural progenitors. Together, our findings suggest that let-7 may link cell proliferation to developmental time and regulate the progressive cell cycle lengthening that occurs during development.


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