scholarly journals Cellular allorecognition and its roles in Dictyostelium development and social evolution

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (8-9-10) ◽  
pp. 383-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kundert ◽  
Gad Shaulsky
Keyword(s):  
Social Evolution ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Functional Heterogeneity ◽  
Selective Force ◽  
Genomic Locus ◽  
Multicellular Development ◽  
Social Amoeba ◽  
The Social ◽  
A Cell

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is a tractable model organism to study cellular allorecognition, which is the ability of a cell to distinguish itself and its genetically similar relatives from more distantly related organisms. Cellular allorecognition is ubiquitous across the tree of life and affects many biological processes. Depending on the biological context, these versatile systems operate both within and between individual organisms, and both promote and constrain functional heterogeneity. Some of the most notable allorecognition systems mediate neural self-avoidance in flies and adaptive immunity in vertebrates. D. discoideum’s allorecognition system shares several structures and functions with other allorecognition systems. Structurally, its key regulators reside at a single genomic locus that encodes two highly polymorphic proteins, a transmembrane ligand called TgrC1 and its receptor TgrB1. These proteins exhibit isoform-specific, heterophilic binding across cells. Functionally, this interaction determines the extent to which co-developing D. discoideum strains co-aggregate or segregate during the aggregation phase of multicellular development. The allorecognition system thus affects both development and social evolution, as available evidence suggests that the threat of developmental cheating represents a primary selective force acting on it. Other significant characteristics that may inform the study of allorecognition in general include that D. discoideum’s allorecognition system is a continuous and inclusive trait, it is pleiotropic, and it is temporally regulated.

scholarly journals Reactive/Non-cooperative individuals advance Population's Synchronization: Modeling of Dictyostelium discoideum Concerted Signaling during Aggregation Phase

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Eidi ◽  
Najme Khorasani ◽  
Mehdi Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
Life Form ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Spatiotemporal Patterns ◽  
Chemical Signaling ◽  
Relative Population ◽  
Social Amoeba ◽  
The Social ◽  
Chemical Waves ◽  
The Waves

Orchestrated chemical signaling of single cells sounds to be a linchpin of emerging organization and multicellular life form. The social amoeba Dictiostelium discoiudium is a well-studied model organism to explore overall pictures of grouped behavior in developmental biology. The chemical waves secreted by aggregating Dictiostelium is a superb example of pattern formation. The waves are either circular or spiral in shape, according to the incremental population density of a self-aggregating community of individuals. Here, we revisit the spatiotemporal patterns that appear in an excitable medium due to synchronization of randomly firing individuals, but with a more parsimonies attitude. According to our model, a fraction of these individuals is refusal to amplify external stimulants. Our simulations indicate that the cells enhance the system's asymmetry and as a result, nucleate early sustainable spiral territory zones, provided that their relative population does not exceed a tolerable threshold.

scholarly journals Mitochondrial regulation in Dictyostelium discoideum

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehak Rafiq
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Serine Proteases ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Complex Life Cycle ◽  
Transcriptional Networks ◽  
Multicellular Development ◽  
Mitochondrial Regulation ◽  
Rhomboid Proteases ◽  
The Social ◽  
Membrane Bound

Proteolysis is increasingly documented as a method of regulation of mitochondrial function. Our studies of rhomboidfamily proteins’ roles in organelles show that this is also the case in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, in which four of these membrane-bound, evolutionarily ubiquitous, serine proteases are found. Rhomboid proteases act on disparate substrates in different organisms so far studied, but their mode of action is conserved: their location in the membrane means that their membrane-tethered substrates can act in signalling upon release, or be activated, by rhomboid-mediated cleavage. Among eukaryotic rhomboids is the mitochondrial protease ‘PARL’, which ensures the maintenance of the structural and functional integrity of mitochondria and plastids, but we have found that other Dictyostelium rhomboids also affect the organelle. Studying the development and behaviour of Dictyostelium, a microbial model organism with a complex life cycle that includes uni- and multicellular stages, allowed investigation of the role of rhomboids in unicellular vegetative growth, multicellular development and sporulation, phagocytosis, and response to the environment. We found that two rhomboid-null mutants gave rise to changes in development, rhmA altering the response to chemoattractants and demonstrating decreased motility in general, whereas rhmB null cells had slower growth rates with decreased response to folic acid. RhmA, although located in the contractile vacuole, affects the ultrastructure of mitochondria, and RhmB-GFP fusions protein was localised to the mitochondrion. qPCR analysis revealed RhmA and RhmB transcript levels peaking during the multicellular growth phase and transcriptional networks suggest the Dictyostelium rhmA is regulated along with the orthologues of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial rhomboid substrates.

Lectins modulate the microbiota of social amoebae

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 361 (6400) ◽  
pp. 402-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Dinh ◽  
Timothy Farinholt ◽  
Shigenori Hirose ◽  
Olga Zhuchenko ◽  
Adam Kuspa
Keyword(s):  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Cellular Response ◽  
Dna Transfer ◽  
Intracellular Bacteria ◽  
Multicellular Development ◽  
Social Amoeba ◽  
Plant Lectins ◽  
The Social ◽  
Eukaryotic Phylogeny ◽  
Social Amoebae

The social amoebaDictyostelium discoideummaintains a microbiome during multicellular development; bacteria are carried in migrating slugs and as endosymbionts within amoebae and spores. Bacterial carriage and endosymbiosis are induced by the secreted lectin discoidin I that binds bacteria, protects them from extracellular killing, and alters their retention within amoebae. This altered handling of bacteria also occurs with bacteria coated by plant lectins and leads to DNA transfer from bacteria to amoebae. Thus, lectins alter the cellular response ofD. discoideumto bacteria to establish the amoebae’s microbiome. Mammalian cells can also maintain intracellular bacteria when presented with bacteria coated with lectins, so heterologous lectins may induce endosymbiosis in animals. Our results suggest that endogenous or environmental lectins may influence microbiome homeostasis across eukaryotic phylogeny.

scholarly journals Reactive/Less-cooperative individuals advance population’s synchronization: Modeling of Dictyostelium discoideum concerted signaling during aggregation phase

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259742
Author(s):  
Zahra Eidi ◽  
Najme Khorasani ◽  
Mehdi Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Life Form ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Chemical Signaling ◽  
Relative Population ◽  
Social Amoeba ◽  
The Social ◽  
Chemical Waves ◽  
The Waves

Orchestrated chemical signaling of single cells sounds to be a linchpin of emerging organization and multicellular life form. The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is a well-studied model organism to explore overall pictures of grouped behavior in developmental biology. The chemical waves secreted by aggregating Dictyostelium is a superb example of pattern formation. The waves are either circular or spiral in shape, according to the incremental population density of a self-aggregating community of individuals. Here, we revisit the spatiotemporal patterns that appear in an excitable medium due to synchronization of randomly firing individuals, but with a more parsimonious attitude. According to our model, a fraction of these individuals are less involved in amplifying external stimulants. Our simulations indicate that the cells enhance the system’s asymmetry and as a result, nucleate early sustainable spiral territory zones, provided that their relative population does not exceed a tolerable threshold.

scholarly journals An ancestral non-proteolytic role for presenilin proteins in multicellular development of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

2014 ◽  
Vol 127 (7) ◽  
pp. 1576-1584 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. R. Ludtmann ◽  
G. P. Otto ◽  
C. Schilde ◽  
Z.-H. Chen ◽  
C. Y. Allan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Multicellular Development ◽  
Social Amoeba ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals Inhibiting Neddylation with MLN4924 Suppresses Growth and Delays Multicellular Development in Dictyostelium discoideum

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 482
Author(s):  
Robert J. Huber ◽  
William D. Kim ◽  
Sabateeshan Mathavarajah
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate ◽  
Adenosine Monophosphate ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Neural Precursor Cell ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Fruiting Body Formation ◽  
Multicellular Development ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
The Social

Neddylation is a post-translational modification that is essential for a variety of cellular processes and is linked to many human diseases including cancer, neurodegeneration, and autoimmune disorders. Neddylation involves the conjugation of the ubiquitin-like modifier neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated protein 8 (NEDD8) to target proteins, and has been studied extensively in various eukaryotes including fungi, plants, and metazoans. Here, we examine the biological processes influenced by neddylation in the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum, using a well-established inhibitor of neddylation, MLN4924 (pevonedistat). NEDD8, and the target of MLN4924 inhibition, NEDD8-activating enzyme E1 (NAE1), are highly conserved in D. discoideum (Nedd8 and Nae1, respectively). Treatment of D. discoideum cells with MLN4924 increased the amount of free Nedd8, suggesting that MLN4924 inhibited neddylation. During growth, MLN4924 suppressed cell proliferation and folic acid-mediated chemotaxis. During multicellular development, MLN4924 inhibited cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-mediated chemotaxis, delayed aggregation, and suppressed fruiting body formation. Together, these findings indicate that neddylation plays an important role in regulating cellular and developmental events during the D. discoideum life cycle and that this organism can be used as a model system to better understand the essential roles of neddylation in eukaryotes, and consequently, its involvement in human disease.

scholarly journals Sex Determination in the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

Science ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 330 (6010) ◽  
pp. 1533-1536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Bloomfield ◽  
Jason Skelton ◽  
Alasdair Ivens ◽  
Yoshimasa Tanaka ◽  
Robert R. Kay
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Genetic Locus ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Mating Types ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Social Amoeba ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Amoebae

The genetics of sex determination remain mysterious in many organisms, including some that are otherwise well studied. Here we report the discovery and analysis of the mating-type locus of the model organism Dictyostelium discoideum. Three forms of a single genetic locus specify this species' three mating types: two versions of the locus are entirely different in sequence, and the third resembles a composite of the other two. Single, unrelated genes are sufficient to determine two of the mating types, whereas homologs of both these genes are required in the composite type. The key genes encode polypeptides that possess no recognizable similarity to established protein families. Sex determination in the social amoebae thus appears to use regulators that are unrelated to any others currently known.

scholarly journals Mitochondrial regulation in Dictyostelium discoideum

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehak Rafiq ◽  
Elinor Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Dictyostelium Discoideum ◽  
Serine Proteases ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Complex Life Cycle ◽  
Transcriptional Networks ◽  
Multicellular Development ◽  
Mitochondrial Regulation ◽  
Rhomboid Proteases ◽  
The Social ◽  
Membrane Bound

Proteolysis is increasingly documented as a method of regulation of mitochondrial function. Our studies of rhomboidfamily proteins’ roles in organelles show that this is also the case in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, in which four of these membrane-bound, evolutionarily ubiquitous, serine proteases are found. Rhomboid proteases act on disparate substrates in different organisms so far studied, but their mode of action is conserved: their location in the membrane means that their membrane-tethered substrates can act in signalling upon release, or be activated, by rhomboid-mediated cleavage. Among eukaryotic rhomboids is the mitochondrial protease ‘PARL’, which ensures the maintenance of the structural and functional integrity of mitochondria and plastids, but we have found that other Dictyostelium rhomboids also affect the organelle. Studying the development and behaviour of Dictyostelium, a microbial model organism with a complex life cycle that includes uni- and multicellular stages, allowed investigation of the role of rhomboids in unicellular vegetative growth, multicellular development and sporulation, phagocytosis, and response to the environment. We found that two rhomboid-null mutants gave rise to changes in development, rhmA altering the response to chemoattractants and demonstrating decreased motility in general, whereas rhmB null cells had slower growth rates with decreased response to folic acid. RhmA, although located in the contractile vacuole, affects the ultrastructure of mitochondria, and RhmB-GFP fusions protein was localised to the mitochondrion. qPCR analysis revealed RhmA and RhmB transcript levels peaking during the multicellular growth phase and transcriptional networks suggest the Dictyostelium rhmA is regulated along with the orthologues of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial rhomboid substrates.

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