Autonomous chaotic behaviour of the slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum predicted by a model for cyclic AMP signalling

How sustained oscillations lose their periodicity and thus give rise to chaos was first analysed in mathematical models, then observed in chemical systems such as the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction where chaos is autonomous because it originates from endogenous kinetic mechanisms. In contrast, chaos can also be obtained by periodically forcing an oscillatory system, as shown, for example, in cardiac cells and yeast glycolysis. Biochemical evidence for autonomous chaos has been obtained both in vitro for the peroxidase reaction and in enzymatic models not based directly on experimental systems. We report here the occurrence of autonomous chaos in a realistic model for the cyclic AMP signalling system of the slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum, based on receptor modification. This model is also capable of bursting, a phenomenon characteristic of some pacemaker neurones such as R15 in Aplysia. Whereas bursting has not been observed in D. discoideum, our model suggests that 'aperiodic signalling' in the mutant Fr17 provides the first example of autonomous chaos occurring spontaneously at the cellular level.     

The genome of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

The social amoebae are exceptional in their ability to alternate between unicellular and multicellular forms. Here we describe the genome of the best-studied member of this group, Dictyostelium discoideum. The gene-dense chromosomes of this organism encode approximately 12,500 predicted proteins, a high proportion of which have long, repetitive amino acid tracts. There are many genes for polyketide synthases and ABC transporters, suggesting an extensive secondary metabolism for producing and exporting small molecules. The genome is rich in complex repeats, one class of which is clustered and may serve as centromeres. Partial copies of the extrachromosomal ribosomal DNA (rDNA) element are found at the ends of each chromosome, suggesting a novel telomere structure and the use of a common mechanism to maintain both the rDNA and chromosomal termini. A proteome-based phylogeny shows that the amoebozoa diverged from the animal-fungal lineage after the plant-animal split, but Dictyostelium seems to have retained more of the diversity of the ancestral genome than have plants, animals or fungi.     

Sequence and analysis of chromosome 2 of Dictyostelium discoideum

The genome of the lower eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum comprises six chromosomes. Here we report the sequence of the largest, chromosome 2, which at 8 megabases (Mb) represents about 25% of the genome. Despite an A + T content of nearly 80%, the chromosome codes for 2,799 predicted protein coding genes and 73 transfer RNA genes. This gene density, about 1 gene per 2.6 kilobases (kb), is surpassed only by Saccharomyces cerevisiae (one per 2 kb) and is similar to that of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (one per 2.5 kb). If we assume that the other chromosomes have a similar gene density, we can expect around 11,000 genes in the D. discoideum genome. A significant number of the genes show higher similarities to genes of vertebrates than to those of other fully sequenced eukaryotes. This analysis strengthens the view that the evolutionary position of D. discoideum is located before the branching of metazoa and fungi but after the divergence of the plant kingdom, placing it close to the base of metazoan evolution.     

盘基网柄菌发育期间蛞蝓体的形态学研究

用吖啶橙和Hoechst 33342两种活体荧光染料,通过荧光显微镜观察,来了解盘基网柄菌多细胞发育期间蛞蝓体阶段中出现的细胞分化及凋亡特点.结果发现:随着发育进程,将发育成柄细胞的前柄细胞先被染成蓝绿色,然后被染成绿色,再成橙色,最后为无色,这些分别表示了前柄细胞不同的凋亡阶段.在蛞蝓体后期其内部出现一条"通道".得出结论,蛞蝓体是盘基网柄菌细胞分化和衰退的起始阶段,其形态发生了巨大的变化.前柄细胞从蛞蝓体前期开始凋亡,但并不是马上死亡,而是一个渐进的凋亡过程.     

发酵罐高密度培养盘基网柄菌

利用SIH合成培养基,在7 L发酵罐培养盘基网柄菌.培养147 h后,细胞密度达到4.0×107 mL-1,为在复杂培养基上所能达到的细胞密度的2～4倍.培养过程中葡萄糖的消耗量为6.7 g/L,产氨浓度达0.88 g/L.对培养基中的氨基酸分析表明,赖氨酸、色氨酸、甲硫氨酸和苯丙氨酸消耗较快, 显示SIH培养基的氨基酸成分还可进一步优化.采用基于Monod生长动力学的半经验模型可很好模拟细胞生长和底物消耗,并估计出动力学参数μmax = 0.115 h-1, Nmax = 6.0×107 mL-1.本研究为进一步优化合成培养基和为利用这一新型真核表达系统大规模生产重组异源蛋白奠定了基础.     

Chemical structure of the morphogen differentiation inducing factor from Dictyostelium discoideum

Morphogens are signal molecules presumed to exist in embryos and to be involved in establishing the spatial pattern of cells during development. Differentiation inducing factor (DIF) has the properties of a morphogen required for producing the prestalk/prespore pattern in the aggregate formed by cells of the slime mould Dictyostelium in response to starvation. DIF-1, the major bioactive species after purification, has now been identified using a combined microchemical, spectroscopic and synthetic approach. The structure is defined as 1-(3,5-dichloro-2,6-dihydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-1-hexanone, and represents a new class of effector molecule. The availability of relatively large quantities of synthetic and isotopically labelled materials should now allow progress towards a detailed understanding of the pattern-forming processes in Dictyostelium development.     

Mechanism of sequential induction of cell-type specific mRNAs in Dictyostelium differentiation

Upon starvation, the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum initiates a 24-h programme of differentiation. Within 6 h, cells move towards aggregation centres in response to pulsatile synthesis and secretion of cyclic AMP. At about 12 h, aggregates of 10(5) cells are formed, held together by newly made surface adhesion molecules. The cells then differentiate into the two principal types found in the terminal stage of development, spores and stalks. Here we show that the chemotaxis and aggregation stages of this developmental programme can be described as a series of sequential events in which these extracellular signals--starvation, cyclic AMP and cell-cell contact--induce specific, sequential changes in the pattern of gene expression.     

Primary structure and functional expression of a developmentally regulated skeletal muscle chloride channel.

Skeletal muscle is unusual in that 70-85% of resting membrane conductance is carried by chloride ions. This conductance is essential for membrane-potential stability, as its block by 9-anthracene-carboxylic acid and other drugs causes myotonia. Fish electric organs are developmentally derived from skeletal muscle, suggesting that mammalian muscle may express a homologue of the Torpedo mamorata electroplax chloride channel. We have now cloned the complementary DNA encoding a rat skeletal muscle chloride channel by homology screening to the Cl- channel from Torpedo. It encodes a 994-amino-acid protein which is about 54% identical to the Torpedo channel and is predominantly expressed in skeletal muscle. Messenger RNA amounts in that tissue increase steeply in the first 3-4 weeks after birth, in parallel with the increase in muscle Cl- conductance. Expression from cRNA in Xenopus oocytes leads to 9-anthracene-carboxylic acid-sensitive currents with time and voltage dependence typical for macroscopic muscle Cl- conductance. This and the functional destruction of this channel in mouse myotonia suggests that we have cloned the major skeletal muscle chloride channel.     

Different recombination site specificity of two developmentally regulated genome rearrangements

In the absence of a combined nitrogen source, such as ammonia, approximately every tenth vegetative cell along filaments of the cyanobacterium Anabaena develops into a heterocyst, a terminally differentiated cell that is morphologically and biochemically specialized for nitrogen fixation. At least two specific DNA rearrangements involving the nitrogen-fixation (nif) genes occur during heterocyst differentiation, one within the nifD gene and the other near the nifS gene. The two rearrangements have several properties in common. Both occur quantitatively in all heterocyst genomes, both occur at approximately the same developmental time, late in the process of heterocyst differentiation, and both result from site-specific recombination between short repeated DNA sequences. We report here the nucleotide sequences found at the site of recombination near the nifS gene. These sequences differ from those found previously for the nifD rearrangement, suggesting that the two rearrangements are catalysed by different enzymes and may be regulated independently. We also show that the nifS gene is transcribed only from rearranged genomes.