Analyzing Chemotaxis Using Dictyostelium discoideum as a Model System

2003 ◽  
pp. 91-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Landree ◽  
Peter N. Devreotes
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Model System

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

Microbiology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine J. Pears ◽  
Julian D. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Pattern Formation ◽  
Cell Motility ◽  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Teaching a biology laboratory course using Dictyostelium

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (8-9-10) ◽  
pp. 551-561
Author(s):  
David A. Knecht ◽  
Kate M. Cooper ◽  
Jonathan E. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Model System ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
Biology Teaching ◽  
Laboratory Course ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Laboratory Courses ◽  
Biology Laboratory

The Dictyostelium discoideum model system is a powerful tool for undergraduate cell biology teaching laboratories. The cells are biologically safe, grow at room temperature and it is easy to experimentally induce, observe, and perturb a breadth of cellular processes making the system amenable to many teaching lab situations and goals. Here we outline the advantages of Dictyostelium, discuss laboratory courses we teach in three very different educational settings, and provide tips for both the novice and experienced Dictyostelium researcher. With this article and the extensive sets of protocols and tools referenced here, implementing these labs, or parts of them, will be relatively straightforward for any instructor.

scholarly journals The FtsZ Homolog, FszB, Inhibits Mitochondrial Dynamics in Dictyostelium discoideum

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ericka Vogel ◽  
Pristine Bay Pittman ◽  
Kari Naylor
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Mitochondrial Dynamics ◽  
Model System ◽  
Membrane Remodeling ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Actual Mechanism

Dictyostelium discoideum is a well-established mitochondrial model system for both disease and dynamics, yet we still do not understand the actual mechanism of mitochondrial dynamics in this system. The FtsZ proteins are known to mediate membrane remodeling events such as cytokinesis in bacteria and fission of chloroplasts; D. discoideum has two FtsZ proteins, FszA and FszB. To determine the role of these proteins in mitochondrial dynamics we overexpressed FszB-GFP and determined its effect on fission, fusion, and motility in the presence of intact and disrupted cytoskeletal filaments. Here we show that overexpression of FszB-GFP decreases mitochondrial dynamics and suggest that actin may play a positive role driving fission in the context of excessive inhibition by overexpressed FszB-GFP.

scholarly journals The Dictyostelium discoideum model system

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (8-9-10) ◽  
pp. 317-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Escalante ◽  
Elena Cardenal-Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Cell Motility ◽  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
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.

Dictyostelium discoideum: A Model System to Study Autophagy Mediated Life Extension

2016 ◽  
pp. 35-55
Author(s):  
Punita Jain ◽  
Priyanka Sharma ◽  
Anju Shrivastava ◽  
Shweta Saran
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Model System ◽  
Life Extension

scholarly journals Dictyostelium discoideum as a pharmacological model system to study the mechanisms of medicinal drugs and natural products

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (8-9-10) ◽  
pp. 541-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Schaf ◽  
Joseph Damstra-Oddy ◽  
Robin S.B. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
Model System ◽  
Genetic Redundancy ◽  
Therapeutic Drugs ◽  
Pharmacologically Active ◽  
Medicinal Drugs ◽  
Pharmacological Model ◽  
Active Natural

Developing novel compounds for the treatment of diseases remains one of the highest priorities in biomedical research, where it is critical to identify their targets and how they work at a cellular level. Most studies in this area employ mammalian models, since rodents or non-human primates are seen as a good approximation for humans. However, using mammalian models can be problematic for a range of reasons, including high genetic redundancy and the essential role for many proteins in development. More importantly, it is very difficult to identify how compounds function at a cellular or molecular level in these models without a previously suggested mechanism or target. So how can we identify targets of medicinal compounds? In this review we outline the use of an innovative and tractable model system, Dictyostelium discoideum, to provide useful insight to the cellular and molecular functions of both therapeutic drugs and pharmacologically active natural products. We outline the advantages of using this model, and then provide a range of exemplar studies using D. discoideum in pharmacological research to demonstrate breakthroughs in understanding the action and effects of compounds, and the subsequent translational of these advances to mammalian models leading to potential improvements in societal health.

scholarly journals Dictyostelium discoideum as a Model System for Identification of Burkholderia pseudomallei Virulence Factors

2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 2079-2088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin M. Hasselbring ◽  
Maharsh K. Patel ◽  
Mark A. Schell
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Burkholderia Pseudomallei ◽  
Bacterial Pathogen ◽  
Model System ◽  
Virulence Determinants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Throughput Model ◽  
Human Infections ◽  
High Throughput Assay

ABSTRACTBurkholderia pseudomalleiis an emerging bacterial pathogen and category B biothreat. Human infections withB. pseudomallei(called melioidosis) present as a range of manifestations, including acute septicemia and pneumonia. Although melioidosis can be fatal, little is known about the molecular basis ofB. pseudomalleipathogenicity, in part because of the lack of simple, genetically tractable eukaryotic models to facilitateen masseidentification of virulence determinants or explore host-pathogen interactions. Two assays, one high-throughput and one quantitative, were developed to monitor levels of resistance ofB. pseudomalleiand the closely related nearly avirulent speciesBurkholderia thailandensisto predation by the phagocytic amoebaDictyostelium discoideum. The quantitative assay showed that levels of resistance to, and survival within, amoeba by these bacteria and their known virulence mutants correlate well with their published levels of virulence in animals. Using the high-throughput assay, we screened a 1,500-memberB. thailandensistransposon mutant library and identified 13 genes involved in resistance to predation byD. discoideum. Orthologs of these genes were disrupted inB. pseudomallei, and nearly all mutants had similarly decreased resistance to predation byD. discoideum. For some mutants, decreased resistance also correlated with reduced survival in and cytotoxicity toward macrophages, as well as attenuated virulence in mice. These observations suggest that some factors required byB. pseudomalleifor resistance to environmental phagocytes also aid in resistance to phagocytic immune cells and contribute to disease in animals. Thus,D. discoideumprovides a novel, high-throughput model system for facilitating inquiry intoB. pseudomalleivirulence.

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