scholarly journals Depletion of a Polo-like Kinase inCandida albicansActivates Cyclase-dependent Hyphal-like Growth

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 2163-2180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Bachewich ◽  
David Y. Thomas ◽  
Malcolm Whiteway
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Hyphal Growth ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Internal Cell ◽  
Spindle Pole Bodies ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Spindle Elongation

Morphogenesis in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans is an important virulence-determining factor, as a dimorphic switch between yeast and hyphal growth forms can increase pathogenesis. We identified CaCDC5, a cell cycle regulatory polo-like kinase (PLK) in C. albicans and demonstrate that shutting off its expression induced cell cycle defects and dramatic changes in morphology. Cells lacking CaCdc5p were blocked early in nuclear division with very short spindles and unseparated chromatin. GFP-tagged CaCdc5p localized to unseparated spindle pole bodies, the spindle, and chromatin, consistent with a role in spindle elongation at an earlier point in the cell cycle than that described for the homologue Cdc5p in yeast. Strikingly, the cell cycle defects were accompanied by the formation of hyphal-like filaments under yeast growth conditions. Filament growth was determinate, as the filaments started to die after 24 h. The filaments resembled serum-induced hyphae with respect to morphology, organization of cytoplasmic microtubules, localization of nuclei, and expression of hyphal-specific components. Filament formation required CaCDC35, but not EFG1 or CPH1. Similar defects in spindle elongation and a corresponding induction of filaments occurred when yeast cells were exposed to hydroxyurea. Because CaCdc5p does not appear to act as a direct repressor of hyphal growth, the data suggest that a target of CaCdc5p function is associated with hyphal-like development. Thus, an internal, cell cycle–related cue can activate hyphal regulatory networks in Candida.

scholarly journals Cyclin Cln3p Links G1 Progression to Hyphal and Pseudohyphal Development in Candida albicans

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Bachewich ◽  
Malcolm Whiteway
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Independent Manner ◽  
Cell Cycles ◽  
Environmental Controls ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Synthetically Lethal

ABSTRACT G1 cyclins coordinate environmental conditions with growth and differentiation in many organisms. In the pathogen Candida albicans, differentiation of hyphae is induced by environmental cues but in a cell cycle-independent manner. Intriguingly, repressing the G1 cyclin Cln3p under yeast growth conditions caused yeast cells to arrest in G1, increase in size, and then develop into hyphae and pseudohyphae, which subsequently resumed the cell cycle. Differentiation was dependent on Efg1p, Cph1p, and Ras1p, but absence of Ras1p was also synthetically lethal with repression of CLN3. In contrast, repressing CLN3 in environment-induced hyphae did not inhibit growth or the cell cycle, suggesting that yeast and hyphal cell cycles may be regulated differently. Therefore, absence of a G1 cyclin can activate developmental pathways in C. albicans and uncouple differentiation from the normal environmental controls. The data suggest that the G1 phase of the cell cycle may therefore play a critical role in regulating hyphal and pseudohyphal development in C. albicans.

scholarly journals A Forkhead Transcription Factor Is Important for True Hyphal as well as Yeast Morphogenesis in Candida albicans

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 787-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric S. Bensen ◽  
Scott G. Filler ◽  
Judith Berman
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Cell Cycle Progression ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Hyphal Growth ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Cycle Progression ◽  
Forkhead Transcription Factors

ABSTRACT Candida albicans is an important pathogen of immunocompromised patients which grows with true hyphal, pseudohyphal, and yeast morphologies. The dynamics of cell cycle progression are markedly different in true hyphal relative to pseudohyphal and yeast cells, including nuclear movement and septin ring positioning. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two forkhead transcription factors (ScFKH1 and ScFKH2) regulate the expression of B-cyclin genes. In both S. cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, forkhead transcription factors also influence morphogenesis. To explore the molecular mechanisms that connect C. albicans morphogenesis with cell cycle progression, we analyzed CaFKH2, the single homolog of S. cerevisiae FKH1/FKH2. C. albicans cells lacking CaFkh2p formed constitutive pseudohyphae under all yeast and hyphal growth conditions tested. Under hyphal growth conditions levels of hyphae-specific mRNAs were reduced, and under yeast growth conditions levels of several genes encoding proteins likely to be important for cell wall separation were reduced. Together these results imply that Fkh2p is required for the morphogenesis of true hyphal as well as yeast cells. Efg1p and Cph1p, two transcription factors that contribute to C. albicans hyphal growth, were not required for the pseudohyphal morphology of fkh2 mutants, implying that Fkh2p acts in pathways downstream of and/or parallel to Efg1p and Cph1p. In addition, cells lacking Fkh2p were unable to damage human epithelial or endothelial cells in vitro, suggesting that Fkh2p contributes to C. albicans virulence.

Evidence for cell cycle-specific, spindle pole body-mediated, nuclear positioning in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

1997 ◽  
Vol 110 (16) ◽  
pp. 1851-1866 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Hagan ◽  
M. Yanagida
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Nuclear Positioning ◽  
Central Location ◽  
Pole Body ◽  
Spindle Pole Bodies ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Multiple Spindle

Specific changes in spatial order occur during cell cycle progression in fission yeast. Growth of the rod-shaped cells is highly regulated and undergoes a cell cycle and size-regulated switch from monopolar to bipolar tip extension. During both phases of growth, the interphase nucleus is maintained in a central location. Following the separation of the genome to the cell tips in mitosis, the two nuclei migrate back towards the cell equator before stopping in two new positions that will become the middle of the two new cells. Here we use simultaneous labeling of microtubules, chromatin and spindle pole bodies in wild-type and cdc mutants, to show that nuclear positioning is achieved by regulation of spindle pole body-mediated nuclear migration. We show that the number and location of nuclear positioning signals is regulated in a cell cycle-specific manner and that spindle pole body-mediated forces are likely to be responsible for maintaining correct nuclear position once the nuclei have reached the appropriate position in the cell. Accentuating the movement of the nuclei back towards the cell equator after mitosis by artificially increasing cell length shows that the spindle pole body leads the nucleus during this migration. When multiple spindle pole bodies are associated with the same or different nuclei they all go to the same point indicating that the different spindle pole bodies are responding to the same positional cue. In a septation-defective mutant cell, which contains four nuclei, the spindle pole bodies on the four different nuclei initially group as two pairs in regions that would become the middle of the new cells, were the cell able to divide. In the subsequent interphase, the nuclei aggregate as a group of four in the centre of the cell. The presence of two or three clusters of spindle pole bodies in larger cells with eight nuclei suggests that the mechanisms specifying the normally central location for multiple nuclei may be unable to operate properly as the cells get larger. Perturbation of microtubules with the microtubule poison thiabendazole prevents the spindle pole body clustering in septation mutants, demonstrating that nuclear positioning requires a functional microtubule cytoskeleton.

Mitosis in the yeast phase of Agaricostilbum pulcherrimum and its evolutionary significance

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (9) ◽  
pp. 1392-1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Frieders ◽  
David J. McLaughlln
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Basidiomycetous Yeasts ◽  
Spindle Pole Bodies ◽  
Yeast Phase

Agaricostilbum pulcherrimum is an anomaly and is difficult to place systematically. It possesses a yeast phase, and as in most basidiomycetous yeasts, mitosis has not been investigated cytoiogically. Yeast cells of A. pulcherrimum were prepared for immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy by a freeze-substitution method. A cladistic analysis of cell cycle characters among A. pulcherrimum and two ascomycetous and two basidiomycetous yeasts, performed with phylogenetic analysis using parsimony, revealed that A. pulcherrimum is basal within these basidiomycetes. Spindle pole bodies are multilayered discs and appear to be intranuclear during early division, similar to meiotic division. Spindle initiation and early elongation occur in the parent, a situation unreported in basidiomycetous yeasts. The site of spindle initiation, the position of the nucleus during division, and the pattern of astral microtubules demonstrate that the mode of nuclear division in A. pulcherrimum is intermediate between those of the investigated ascomycetous and basidiomycetous yeasts. Keywords: basidiomycete, cell cycle, cytoskeleton, immunofluorescence, phylogeny, spindle pole body.

scholarly journals Byr4 Localizes to Spindle-Pole Bodies in a Cell Cycle-regulated Manner to Control Cdc7 Localization and Septation in Fission Yeast

2000 ◽  
Vol 275 (19) ◽  
pp. 14381-14387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cunxi Li ◽  
Kyle A. Furge ◽  
Qiu-chen Cheng ◽  
Charles F. Albright
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Spindle Pole Bodies ◽  
A Cell

scholarly journals Cdc14-regulated midzone assembly controls anaphase B

2007 ◽  
Vol 177 (6) ◽  
pp. 981-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Khmelinskii ◽  
Clare Lawrence ◽  
Johanna Roostalu ◽  
Elmar Schiebel
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Protein Phosphatase ◽  
Cross Linking ◽  
Aurora B ◽  
Aurora B Kinase ◽  
Spindle Midzone ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Spindle Elongation ◽  
And Function ◽  
Anaphase B

Spindle elongation in anaphase of mitosis is a cell cycle–regulated process that requires coordination between polymerization, cross-linking, and sliding of microtubules (MTs). Proteins that assemble at the spindle midzone may be important for this process. In this study, we show that Ase1 and the separase–Slk19 complex drive midzone assembly in yeast. Whereas the conserved MT-bundling protein Ase1 establishes a midzone, separase–Slk19 is required to focus and center midzone components. An important step leading to spindle midzone assembly is the dephosphorylation of Ase1 by the protein phosphatase Cdc14 at the beginning of anaphase. Failure to dephosphorylate Ase1 delocalizes midzone proteins and delays the second, slower phase of anaphase B. In contrast, in cells expressing nonphosphorylated Ase1, anaphase spindle extension is faster, and spindles frequently break. Cdc14 also controls the separase–Slk19 complex indirectly via the Aurora B kinase. Thus, Cdc14 regulates spindle midzone assembly and function directly through Ase1 and indirectly via the separase–Slk19 complex.

Asymmetry of the spindle pole bodies and spg1p GAP segregation during mitosis in fission yeast

1999 ◽  
Vol 112 (14) ◽  
pp. 2313-2321 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Cerutti ◽  
V. Simanis
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Mitotic Cell ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
The Other ◽  
Septum Formation ◽  
Spindle Pole Bodies ◽  
Interphase Cells ◽  
Early Mitosis

In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the onset of septum formation is induced by a signal transduction network involving several protein kinases and a GTPase switch. One of the roles of the spg1p GTPase is to localise the cdc7p protein kinase to the poles of the mitotic spindle, from where the onset of septation is thought to be signalled at the end of mitosis. Immunofluorescence studies have shown that cdc7p is located on both spindle pole bodies early in mitosis, but only on one during the later stages of anaphase. This is mediated by inactivation of spg1p on one pole before the other. The GAP for spg1p is a complex of two proteins, cdc16p and byr4p. Localisation of cdc16p and byr4p by indirect immunofluorescence during the mitotic cell cycle showed that both proteins are present on the spindle pole body in interphase cells. During mitosis, byr4p is seen first on both poles of the spindle, then on only one. This occurs prior to cdc7p becoming asymmetric. In contrast, the signal due to cdc16p decreases to a low level during early mitosis, before being seen strongly on the same pole as byr4p. Double staining indicates that this is the opposite pole to that which retains cdc7p in late anaphase. Examination of the effect of inactivating cdc16p at various stages of the cell cycle suggests that cdc16p, together with cdc2p plays a role in restraining septum formation during interphase. The asymmetric inactivation of spg1p is mediated by recruitment of the cdc16p-byr4p GAP to one of the poles of the spindle before the other, and the asymmetry of the spindle pole bodies may be established early during mitosis. Moreover, the spindle pole bodies appear to be non-equivalent even after division has been completed.

scholarly journals Studies concerning the temporal and genetic control of cell polarity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

1991 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Snyder ◽  
S Gehrung ◽  
B D Page
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Cell Polarity ◽  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Cell Cycle Distribution ◽  
Restrictive Temperature ◽  
Microtubule Bundle ◽  
Pole Body ◽  
Capture Site

The establishment of cell polarity was examined in the budding yeast, S. cerevisiae. The distribution of a polarized protein, the SPA2 protein, was followed throughout the yeast cell cycle using synchronized cells and cdc mutants. The SPA2 protein localizes to a patch at the presumptive bud site of G1 cells. Later it concentrates at the bud tip in budded cells. At cytokinesis, the SPA2 protein is at the neck between the mother and daughter cells. Analysis of unbudded haploid cells has suggested a series of events that occurs during G1. The SPA2 patch is established very early in G1, while the spindle pole body residues on the distal side of the nucleus. Later, microtubules emanating from the spindle pole body intersect the SPA2 crescent, and the nucleus probably rotates towards the SPA2 patch. By middle G1, most cells contain the SPB on the side of the nucleus proximal to the SPA2 patch, and a long extranuclear microtubule bundle intersects this patch. We suggest that a microtubule capture site exists in the SPA2 staining region that stabilizes the long microtubule bundle; this capture site may be responsible for rotation of the nucleus. Cells containing a polarized distribution of the SPA2 protein also possess a polarized distribution of actin spots in the same region, although the actin staining is much more diffuse. Moreover, cdc4 mutants, which form multiple buds at the restrictive temperature, exhibit simultaneous staining of the SPA2 protein and actin spots in a subset of the bud tips. spa2 mutants contain a polarized distribution of actin spots, and act1-1 and act1-2 mutants often contain a polarized distribution of the SPA2 protein suggesting that the SPA2 protein is not required for localization of the actin spots and the actin spots are not required for localization of the SPA2 protein. cdc24 mutants, which fail to form buds at the restrictive temperature, fail to exhibit polarized localization of the SPA2 protein and actin spots, indicating that the CDC24 protein is directly or indirectly responsible for controlling the polarity of these proteins. Based on the cell cycle distribution of the SPA2 protein, a "cytokinesis tag" model is proposed to explain the mechanism of the non-random positioning of bud sites in haploid yeast cells.

scholarly journals Mitosis in the cellular slime mold Polysphondylium violaceum.

1975 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 480-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
U P Roos
Keyword(s):  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Equatorial Region ◽  
Cellular Slime Mold ◽  
Central Spindle ◽  
Spindle Pole Bodies ◽  
Cellular Slime ◽  
Late Telophase ◽  
Spindle Elongation ◽  
Well Differentiated ◽  
Opaque Body

Myxamebas of Polysphondylium violaceum were grown in liquid medium and processed for electron microscopy. Mitosis is characterized by a persistent nuclear envelope, ring-shaped extranuclear spindle pole bodies (SPBs), a central spindle spatially separated from the chromosomal microtubules, well-differentiated kinetochores, and dispersion of the nucleoli. SPBs originate from the division, during prophase, of an electron-opaque body associated with the interphase nucleus. The nuclear nevelope becomes fenestrated in their vicinity, allowing the build-up of the intranuclear, central spindle and chromosomal microtubules as the SPBs migrate to opposite poles. At metaphase the chromosomes are in amphitelic orientation, each sister chromatid being directly connected to the corresponding SPB by a single microtubule. During ana- and telophase the central spindle elongates, the daughter chromosomes approach the SPBs, and the nucleus constricts in the equatorial region. The cytoplasm cleaves by furrowing in late telophase, which is in other respects characterized by a re-establishment of the interphase condition. Spindle elongation and poleward movement of chromosomes are discussed in relation to hypotheses of the mechanism of mitosis.

Three proteins required for early steps in the protein secretory pathway also affect nuclear envelope structure and cell cycle progression in fission yeast

2002 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-431
Author(s):  
Anna Matynia ◽  
Sandra S. Salus ◽  
Shelley Sazer
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Nuclear Envelope ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Cell Cycle Progression ◽  
Secretory Pathway ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Ran Gtpase ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Cell Cycle Block ◽  
Er Membrane

The Ran GTPase is an essential protein that has multiple functions in eukaryotic cells. Fission yeast cells in which Ran is misregulated arrest after mitosis with condensed, unreplicated chromosomes and abnormal nuclear envelopes. The fission yeast sns mutants arrest with a similar cell cycle block and interact genetically with the Ran system. sns-A10, sns-B2 and sns-B9 have mutations in the fission yeast homologues of S. cerevisiae Sar1p, Sec31p and Sec53p, respectively, which are required for the early steps of the protein secretory pathway. The three sns mutants accumulate a normally secreted protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), have an increased amount of ER membrane, and the ER/nuclear envelope lumen is dilated. Neither a post-ER block in the secretory pathway, nor ER proliferation caused by overexpression of an integral ER membrane protein, results in a cell cycle-specific defect. Therefore, the arrest seen in sns-A10, sns-B2 and sns-B9 is most likely due to nuclear envelope defects that render the cells unable to re-establish the interphase organization of the nucleus after mitosis. As a consequence, these mutants are unable to decondense their chromosomes or to initiate of the next round of DNA replication.

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