Microbe Profile: Dictyostelium discoideum: model system for development, chemotaxis and biomedical research

Biomedical Research ◽

Model System ◽

Developmental Pattern ◽

Social Amoeba ◽

The Social ◽

Host Pathogen ◽

Soil Amoeba

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is a versatile organism that is unusual in alternating between single-celled and multi-celled forms. It possesses highly-developed systems for cell motility and chemotaxis, phagocytosis, and developmental pattern formation. As a soil amoeba growing on microorganisms, it is exposed to many potential pathogens; it thus provides fruitful ways of investigating host-pathogen interactions and is emerging as an influential model for biomedical research.

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Allorecognition, via TgrB1 and TgrC1, mediates the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.725803626.793510626 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Gomer

Keyword(s):

Social Amoeba ◽

Amino Acid Repeats Cause Extraordinary Coding Sequence Variation in the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0046150 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (9) ◽

pp. e46150 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Clea Scala ◽

Xiangjun Tian ◽

Natasha J. Mehdiabadi ◽

Margaret H. Smith ◽

Gerda Saxer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Amino Acid ◽

Sequence Variation ◽

Social Amoeba ◽

Coding Sequence ◽

Amino Acid Repeats ◽

Complex genotype interactions influence social fitness during the developmental phase of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

Journal of Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02032.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 23 (8) ◽

pp. 1664-1671 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

N. J. BUTTERY ◽

C. R. L. THOMPSON ◽

J. B. WOLF

Keyword(s):

Developmental Phase ◽

Social Amoeba ◽

Role of epigenetics in unicellular to multicellular transition in Dictyostelium

Genome Biology ◽

10.1186/s13059-021-02360-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Simon Yuan Wang ◽

Elizabeth Ann Pollina ◽

I-Hao Wang ◽

Lindsay Kristina Pino ◽

Henry L. Bushnell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Orthologous Gene ◽

Chromatin Accessibility ◽

Critical Event ◽

H3k4 Methylation ◽

Social Amoeba ◽

The Social ◽

Conserved Genes ◽

Multicellular Organisms

Abstract Background The evolution of multicellularity is a critical event that remains incompletely understood. We use the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum, one of the rare organisms that readily transits back and forth between both unicellular and multicellular stages, to examine the role of epigenetics in regulating multicellularity. Results While transitioning to multicellular states, patterns of H3K4 methylation and H3K27 acetylation significantly change. By combining transcriptomics, epigenomics, chromatin accessibility, and orthologous gene analyses with other unicellular and multicellular organisms, we identify 52 conserved genes, which are specifically accessible and expressed during multicellular states. We validated that four of these genes, including the H3K27 deacetylase hdaD, are necessary and that an SMC-like gene, smcl1, is sufficient for multicellularity in Dictyostelium. Conclusions These results highlight the importance of epigenetics in reorganizing chromatin architecture to facilitate multicellularity in Dictyostelium discoideum and raise exciting possibilities about the role of epigenetics in the evolution of multicellularity more broadly.

(Auto)Biographical reflections on the contributions of William F. Loomis (1940-2016) to Dictyostelium biology

The International Journal of Developmental Biology ◽

10.1387/ijdb.190224ak ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 63 (8-9-10) ◽

pp. 343-357

Author(s):

Adam Kuspa ◽

Gad Shaulsky

Keyword(s):

Cell Differentiation ◽

Molecular Biology ◽

Genetic Control ◽

University Of California ◽

High Dimensional ◽

Social Amoeba ◽

The Social ◽

The University ◽

High Dimensional Datasets

William Farnsworth Loomis studied the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum for more than fifty years as a professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego, USA. This biographical reflection describes Dr. Loomis’ major scientific contributions to the field within a career arc that spanned the early days of molecular biology up to the present day where the acquisition of high-dimensional datasets drive research. Dr. Loomis explored the genetic control of social amoeba development, delineated mechanisms of cell differentiation, and significantly advanced genetic and genomic technology for the field. The details of Dr. Loomis’ multifaceted career are drawn from his published work, from an autobiographical essay that he wrote near the end of his career and from extensive conversations between him and the two authors, many of which took place on the deck of his beachfront home in Del Mar, California.

Methods to Monitor and Quantify Autophagy in the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells6030018 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 18 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Eunice Domínguez-Martín ◽

Elena Cardenal-Muñoz ◽

Jason King ◽

Thierry Soldati ◽

Roberto Coria ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Amoeba ◽

The Dictyostelium discoideum model system

The International Journal of Developmental Biology ◽

10.1387/ijdb.190275re ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 63 (8-9-10) ◽

pp. 317-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ricardo Escalante ◽

Elena Cardenal-Muñoz

Keyword(s):

Cell Motility ◽

Cell Biology ◽

Model Organism ◽

Opportunity To Learn ◽

Model System ◽

Special Issue ◽

Complete Understanding ◽

Single Model ◽

Present Collection

When we set out to organize this Special Issue, we faced the difficult task of gathering together a large variety of topics with the unique commonality of having been studied in a single model organism, Dictyostelium discoideum. This apparent setback turned into a wonderful opportunity to learn about an organism as a whole, which provides a more complete understanding of life processes, their natural meaning and their changes during evolution. From studies dedicated almost exclusively to cell motility, differentiation and patterning, the versatility of D. discoideum has allowed in recent years the expansion of our knowledge to other areas, including cell biology and many others related to human diseases. The present collection of papers can be considered as a journey throughout the mechanisms of life, where D. discoideum acts as a very special tourist guide.

Cooperation and conflict in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

The International Journal of Developmental Biology ◽

10.1387/ijdb.190158jm ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 63 (8-9-10) ◽

pp. 371-382

Author(s):

James M. Medina ◽

P.M. Shreenidhi ◽

Tyler J. Larsen ◽

David C. Queller ◽

Joan E. Strassmann

Keyword(s):

Fruiting Body ◽

Sexual Cycle ◽

Evolution Of Cooperation ◽

Bacterial Symbionts ◽

Spore Dispersal ◽

Social Amoeba ◽

The Social ◽

The Relationship ◽

Insight Into

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum has provided considerable insight into the evolution of cooperation and conflict. Under starvation, D. discoideum amoebas cooperate to form a fruiting body comprised of hardy spores atop a stalk. The stalk development is altruistic because stalk cells die to aid spore dispersal. The high relatedness of cells in fruiting bodies in nature implies that this altruism often benefits relatives. However, since the fruiting body forms through aggregation there is potential for non-relatives to join the aggregate and create conflict over spore and stalk fates. Cheating is common in chimeras of social amoebas, where one genotype often takes advantage of the other and makes more spores. This social conflict is a significant force in nature as indicated by rapid rates of adaptive evolution in genes involved in cheating and its resistance. However, cheating can be prevented by high relatedness, allorecognition via tgr genes, pleiotropy and evolved resistance. Future avenues for the study of cooperation and conflict in D. discoideum include the sexual cycle as well as the relationship between D. discoideum and its bacterial symbionts. D. discoideum’s tractability in the laboratory as well as its uncommon mode of aggregative multicellularity have established it as a promising model for future studies of cooperation and conflict.