A glycosylation mutation affects cell fate in chimeras of Dictyostelium discoideum

Prestalk and prespore cells form a simple pattern in the pseudoplasmodium of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. Prestalk cells are distinguished from prespore cells by a low level of expression of a glycoantigen on their surfaces and by reduced intercellular cohesion. We examined the possible significance of these differences, using the modB mutation, which eliminates this glycoantigen genetically, leading to reduced intercellular cohesion, modB mutant cells were allowed to develop together with normal cells to form chimeric slugs. Mutant cells labeled by feeding with fluorescent bacteria were highly enriched in the prestalk cell zone at the anterior end of the slug. In contrast, normal cells, if in a minority, were concentrated in the rear part of the prespore cell zone. Immunoblot analysis and cell-by-cell double-label immunofluorescence of these mixtures showed that mutant cells underproduced several prespore cell markers. Mutant cells tended not to form spores in chimeras unless they exceeded a threshold proportion of ca. 30%. However, mutant cells showed no tendency to produce excess prestalk cells when allowed to develop alone. These findings are most simply explained by postulating that reduced glycoantigen expression and intercellular adhesion encourage a more anterior cell localization, which in turn causes differentiation into a prestalk cell. Since normal prestalk cells also show reduced glycoantigen expression and intercellular adhesion, this suggests that a similar mechanism may contribute to pattern formation during normal development.