scholarly journals A systematic screen for morphological abnormalities during fission yeast sexual reproduction identifies a mechanism of actin aster formation for cell fusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omaya Dudin ◽  
Laura Merlini ◽  
Felipe Bendezú ◽  
Raphaël Groux ◽  
Vincent Vincenzetti ◽  
...  

AbstractIn non-motile fungi, sexual reproduction relies on stron morphogenetic changes in response to pheromone signaling. We report here on asystematic screen for morphological abnormalities o the mating process in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We derived a homothallic (self-fertile) collection of viable deletions which, upon visual screening, revealed a plethora of phenotype affecting all stages of the mating process, including cell polarizati cell fusion and sporulation. Cell fusion relies onthe formation of the fusion focus, an aster-like F-actin structure that is marked by stron local accumulation of the myosin V Myo52, which concentrates secretion at the fusion site. A secondaryscreen for fusion-defective mutants identified the myosin V Myo51-associated coiled-coil proteins Rng8 and Rng9 as critical forthe coalescence of the fusion focus Indeed, rng8∆ and rng9∆ mutant cells exhibitmultiple stable dots a the cell-cell contact site, instead of the single cusfo observed in wildtype. Rng8 and Rng9 accumulate on the fusion focus, depende on Myo51 and tropomyosin Cdc8A. tropomyosin mutant allele, whic compromises Rng8/9 localization but not actin binding, similarly lea to multiple stable dots instead of a single focus.By contrast, myo51 deletion does not strongly affect fusion focus coalescenceWe. propose that focusing of the actinfilaments in the fusionaster primarily relies on Rng8/9-dependent cross-linking of tropomyosin-actin filaments.

PLoS Genetics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. e1006721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omaya Dudin ◽  
Laura Merlini ◽  
Felipe O. Bendezú ◽  
Raphaël Groux ◽  
Vincent Vincenzetti ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 205 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Wang ◽  
Libera Lo Presti ◽  
Yi-Hua Zhu ◽  
Minhee Kang ◽  
Zhengrong Wu ◽  
...  

The myosin-V family of molecular motors is known to be under sophisticated regulation, but our knowledge of the roles and regulation of myosin-Vs in cytokinesis is limited. Here, we report that the myosin-V Myo51 affects contractile ring assembly and stability during fission yeast cytokinesis, and is regulated by two novel coiled-coil proteins, Rng8 and Rng9. Both rng8Δ and rng9Δ cells display similar defects as myo51Δ in cytokinesis. Rng8 and Rng9 are required for Myo51’s localizations to cytoplasmic puncta, actin cables, and the contractile ring. Myo51 puncta contain multiple Myo51 molecules and walk continuously on actin filaments in rng8+ cells, whereas Myo51 forms speckles containing only one dimer and does not move efficiently on actin tracks in rng8Δ. Consistently, Myo51 transports artificial cargos efficiently in vivo, and this activity is regulated by Rng8. Purified Rng8 and Rng9 form stable higher-order complexes. Collectively, we propose that Rng8 and Rng9 form oligomers and cluster multiple Myo51 dimers to regulate Myo51 localization and functions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 218 (11) ◽  
pp. 3548-3559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saravanan Palani ◽  
Darius V. Köster ◽  
Tomoyuki Hatano ◽  
Anton Kamnev ◽  
Taishi Kanamaru ◽  
...  

Tropomyosin is a coiled-coil actin binding protein key to the stability of actin filaments. In muscle cells, tropomyosin is subject to calcium regulation, but its regulation in nonmuscle cells is not understood. Here, we provide evidence that the fission yeast tropomyosin, Cdc8, is regulated by phosphorylation of a serine residue. Failure of phosphorylation leads to an increased number and stability of actin cables and causes misplacement of the division site in certain genetic backgrounds. Phosphorylation of Cdc8 weakens its interaction with actin filaments. Furthermore, we show through in vitro reconstitution that phosphorylation-mediated release of Cdc8 from actin filaments facilitates access of the actin-severing protein Adf1 and subsequent filament disassembly. These studies establish that phosphorylation may be a key mode of regulation of nonmuscle tropomyosins, which in fission yeast controls actin filament stability and division site placement.


2018 ◽  
Vol 217 (4) ◽  
pp. 1467-1483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Merlini ◽  
Bita Khalili ◽  
Omaya Dudin ◽  
Laetitia Michon ◽  
Vincent Vincenzetti ◽  
...  

In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, pheromone signaling engages a signaling pathway composed of a G protein–coupled receptor, Ras, and a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade that triggers sexual differentiation and gamete fusion. Cell–cell fusion requires local cell wall digestion, which relies on an initially dynamic actin fusion focus that becomes stabilized upon local enrichment of the signaling cascade on the structure. We constructed a live-reporter of active Ras1 (Ras1–guanosine triphosphate [GTP]) that shows Ras activity at polarity sites peaking on the fusion structure before fusion. Remarkably, constitutive Ras1 activation promoted fusion focus stabilization and fusion attempts irrespective of cell pairing, leading to cell lysis. Ras1 activity was restricted by the guanosine triphosphatase–activating protein Gap1, which was itself recruited to sites of Ras1-GTP and was essential to block untimely fusion attempts. We propose that negative feedback control of Ras activity restrains the MAPK signal and couples fusion with cell–cell engagement.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 1159-1168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila Landry ◽  
Charles S Hoffman

AbstractFission yeast adenylate cyclase, like mammalian adenylate cyclases, is regulated by a heterotrimeric G protein. The gpa2 Gα and git5 Gβ are both required for glucose-triggered cAMP signaling. The git5 Gβ is a unique member of the Gβ family in that it lacks an amino-terminal coiled-coil domain shown to be essential for mammalian Gβ folding and interaction with Gγ subunits. Using a git5 bait in a two-hybrid screen, we identified the git11 Gγ gene. Co-immunoprecipitation studies confirm the composition of this Gβγ dimer. Cells deleted for git11 are defective in glucose repression of both fbp1 transcription and sexual development, resembling cells lacking either the gpa2 Gα or the git5 Gβ. Overexpression of the gpa2 Gα partially suppresses loss of either the git5 Gβ or the git11 Gγ, while mutational activation of the Gα fully suppresses loss of either Gβ or Gγ. Deletion of gpa2 (Gα), git5 (Gβ), or git11 (Gγ) confer quantitatively distinct effects on fbp1 repression, indicating that the gpa2 Gα subunit remains partially active in the absence of the Gβγ dimer and that the git5 Gβ subunit remains partially active in the absence of the git11 Gγ subunit. The addition of the CAAX box from the git11 Gγ to the carboxy-terminus of the git5 Gβ partially suppresses the loss of the Gγ. Thus the Gγ in this system is presumably required for localization of the Gβγ dimer but not for folding of the Gβ subunit. In mammalian cells, the essential roles of the Gβ amino-terminal coiled-coil domains and Gγ partners in Gβ folding may therefore reflect a mechanism used by cells that express multiple forms of both Gβ and Gγ subunits to regulate the composition and activity of its G proteins.


FEBS Letters ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 516 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 58-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A Steimle ◽  
Lucila Licate ◽  
Graham P Côté ◽  
Thomas T Egelhoff

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 4720-4735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair N. Hume ◽  
Abul K. Tarafder ◽  
José S. Ramalho ◽  
Elena V. Sviderskaya ◽  
Miguel C. Seabra

Melanophilin (Mlph) regulates retention of melanosomes at the peripheral actin cytoskeleton of melanocytes, a process essential for normal mammalian pigmentation. Mlph is proposed to be a modular protein binding the melanosome-associated protein Rab27a, Myosin Va (MyoVa), actin, and microtubule end-binding protein (EB1), via distinct N-terminal Rab27a-binding domain (R27BD), medial MyoVa-binding domain (MBD), and C-terminal actin-binding domain (ABD), respectively. We developed a novel melanosome transport assay using a Mlph-null cell line to study formation of the active Rab27a:Mlph:MyoVa complex. Recruitment of MyoVa to melanosomes correlated with rescue of melanosome transport and required intact R27BD together with MBD exon F–binding region (EFBD) and unexpectedly a potential coiled-coil forming sequence within ABD. In vitro binding studies indicate that the coiled-coil region enhances binding of MyoVa by Mlph MBD. Other regions of Mlph reported to interact with MyoVa globular tail, actin, or EB1 are not essential for melanosome transport rescue. The strict correlation between melanosomal MyoVa recruitment and rescue of melanosome distribution suggests that stable interaction with Mlph and MyoVa activation are nondissociable events. Our results highlight the importance of the coiled-coil region together with R27BD and EFBD regions of Mlph in the formation of the active melanosomal Rab27a-Mlph-MyoVa complex.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (16) ◽  
pp. 2528-2541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yajun Liu ◽  
I-Ju Lee ◽  
Mingzhai Sun ◽  
Casey A. Lower ◽  
Kurt W. Runge ◽  
...  

Rho GAPs are important regulators of Rho GTPases, which are involved in various steps of cytokinesis and other processes. However, regulation of Rho-GAP cellular localization and function is not fully understood. Here we report the characterization of a novel coiled-coil protein Rng10 and its relationship with the Rho-GAP Rga7 in fission yeast. Both rng10Δ and rga7Δ result in defective septum and cell lysis during cytokinesis. Rng10 and Rga7 colocalize on the plasma membrane at the cell tips during interphase and at the division site during cell division. Rng10 physically interacts with Rga7 in affinity purification and coimmunoprecipitation. Of interest, Rga7 localization is nearly abolished without Rng10. Moreover, Rng10 and Rga7 work together to regulate the accumulation and dynamics of glucan synthases for successful septum formation in cytokinesis. Our results show that cellular localization and function of the Rho-GAP Rga7 are regulated by a novel protein, Rng10, during cytokinesis in fission yeast.


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