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Spatiotemporal Analysis of Cytokinetic Events in Fission Yeast
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Functional necessity of the cytoskeleton during cleavage membrane development and zoosporogenesis in Allomyces

David S Lowry1, Karen E Fisher, Robert W Roberson

  • 1School of Life Sciences, Box 874501, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-4501.

Mycologia
|December 15, 2010
PubMed

Insights

The actin cytoskeleton is essential for proper cell division (cytokinesis) in Allomyces macrogynus. Microtubules play a minor role in this process, impacting flagella development but not membrane formation.

Area of Science:

  • * Cell Biology
  • * Mycology
  • * Cytoskeletal Dynamics

Background:

  • * Cytokinesis, the process of cell division, involves the formation of a cleavage membrane to separate daughter cells.
  • * The roles of specific cytoskeletal components, like actin microfilaments and microtubules, in fungal cytokinesis are not fully elucidated.
  • * Allomyces macrogynus serves as a model organism for studying fungal development and cell division.

Purpose of the Study:

  • * To investigate the roles of actin microfilaments and microtubules in cleavage membrane development and cytokinesis in Allomyces macrogynus zoosporangia.
  • * To compare the effects of cytoskeletal inhibitors on zoosporogenesis with control conditions.

Main Methods:

  • * Live imaging of developing cleavage membranes using laser-scanning confocal microscopy and the lipophilic dye FM4-64.
  • * Treatment of zoosporangia with specific inhibitors targeting actin microfilaments and microtubules.
  • * Comparative analysis of zoospore morphology and nuclear content under different treatment conditions.

Main Results:

  • * Control conditions showed a four-stage cleavage membrane development, resulting in uniform uninucleate domains.
  • * Microtubule disruption caused minor cytokinesis anomalies and resulted in flagella-less zoospores, with some multinucleation.
  • * Actin microfilament disruption severely impaired nuclear migration, membrane alignment, and cytoplasmic delimitation, leading to multinucleated spores with larger diameters.

Conclusions:

  • * A functional actin microfilament cytoskeleton is crucial for the precise alignment of cleavage elements and successful cytokinesis in Allomyces zoosporangia.
  • * Microtubules play a less critical role in the membrane development and cytokinesis stages examined, primarily affecting flagella formation.
  • * The study highlights the differential contributions of actin and microtubules to the complex process of fungal cell division.

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