scholarly journals Molecular studies of linkage group XIX of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: evidence against a basal body location.

1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
D E Johnson ◽  
S K Dutcher

Linkage group XIX (also known as the UNI linkage group) in the green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, exhibits a number of unusual properties that have lead to the suggestion that it represents a basal body-associated chromosome. To begin a molecular analysis of this linkage group, we have identified DNA sequences from it and used them to determine the copy number of linkage group XIX within the cell. We find that linkage group XIX is present in the same copy number per cell as nuclear linkage groups in both haploid and diploid strains. We also find that the copy number of linkage group XIX is unchanged in mutants lacking basal bodies. We conclude that there is no convincing evidence that linkage group XIX localizes to the basal bodies of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells.

Genetics ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
pp. 865-874
Author(s):  
J A Holmes ◽  
D E Johnson ◽  
S K Dutcher

Abstract Linkage group XIX (or the UNI linkage group) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has been reported to show a circular meiotic recombination map. A circular map predicts the existence of strong chiasma and chromatid interference, which would lead to an excess number of two-strand double crossovers during meiosis. We have tested this prediction in multipoint crosses. Our results are consistent with a linear linkage group that shows positive chiasma interference and no chromatid interference. Chiasma interference occurs both within arms and across the centromere. Of the original loci that contributed to the circular map, we find that two map to other linkage groups and a third cannot be retested because the mutant strain that defined it has been lost. A second reported unusual property for linkage group XIX was the increase in meiotic recombination with increases in temperature during a period that precedes the onset of meiosis. Although we observed changes in recombination frequencies in some intervals on linkage group XIX in crosses to CC-1952, and in strains heterozygous for the mutation ger1 at 16 degrees, we also show that our strains do not exhibit the previously observed patterns of temperature-sensitive recombination for two different pairs of loci on linkage group XIX. We conclude that linkage group XIX has a linear genetic map that is not significantly different from other Chlamydomonas linkage groups.


1985 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 1903-1912 ◽  
Author(s):  
R L Wright ◽  
J Salisbury ◽  
J W Jarvik

We have isolated a nucleus-basal body complex from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The complex is strongly immunoreactive to an antibody generated against a major protein constituent of isolated Tetraselmis striata flagellar roots (Salisbury, J. L., A. Baron, B. Surek, and M. Melkonian, J. Cell Biol., 99:962-970). Electrophoretic and immunoelectrophoretic analysis indicates that, like the Tetraselmis protein, the Chlamydomonas antigen consists of two acidic isoforms of approximately 20 kD. Indirect immunofluorescent staining of nucleus-basal body complexes reveals two major fibers in the connector region, one between each basal body and the nucleus. The nucleus is also strongly immunoreactive, with staining radiating around much of the nucleus from a region of greatest concentration at the connector pole. Calcium treatment causes shortening of the connector fibers and also movement of nuclear DNA towards the connector pole. Electron microscopic observation of negatively stained nucleus-basal body complexes reveals a cluster of approximately 6-nm filaments, suspected to represent the connector, between the basal bodies and nuclei. A mutant with a variable number of flagella, vfl-2-220, is defective with respect to the nucleus-basal body association. This observation encourages us to speculate that the nucleus-basal body union is important for accurate basal body localization within the cell and/or for accurate segregation of parental and daughter basal bodies at cell division. A physical association between nuclei and basal bodies or centrioles has been observed in a variety of algal, protozoan, and metazoan cells, although the nature of the association, in terms of both structure and function, has been obscure. We believe it likely that fibrous connectors homologous to those described here for Chlamydomonas are general features of centriole-bearing eucaryotic cells.


1975 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
R R Gould

The assembly and composition of basal bodies was investigated in the single-celled, biflagellate green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, using the cell wall-less strain, cw15. In the presence of EDTA, both flagellar axonemes remained attached to their basal bodies while the entire basal body-axoneme complex was separated from the cell body, without cell lysis, by treatment with polyethylene glycol-400. The axonemes were then removed from the basal bodies in the absence of EDTA, leaving intact basal body pairs, free from particulate contamination from other regions of the cell. The isolated organelles produced several bands on sodium dodecyl sulfate-urea polyacrylamide gels, including two tubilin bands which co-electrophoresed with flagellar tubulin. The formation of probasal bodies was observed by electron microscopy of whole mount preparations. Synchronous cells were lysed, centrifuged onto carbon-coated grids, and either negatively stained or shadowed with platinum. The two probasal bodies of each cell appeared shortly after mitosis as thin "annuli," not visible in thin sections, each consisting of nine rudimentary triplet microtubules. Each annulus remained attached to one of the mature basal bodies by several filaments about 60 in diameter, and persisted throughout interphase until just before the next cell division. It then elongated into a mature organelle. The results revive the possibility of the nucleated assembly of basal bodies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 262-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian P. Piasecki ◽  
Matthew LaVoie ◽  
Lai-Wa Tam ◽  
Paul A. Lefebvre ◽  
Carolyn D. Silflow

Mutations in the UNI2 locus in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii result in a “uniflagellar” phenotype in which flagellar assembly occurs preferentially from the older basal body and ultrastructural defects reside in the transition zones. The UNI2 gene encodes a protein of 134 kDa that shares 20.5% homology with a human protein. Immunofluorescence microscopy localized the protein on both basal bodies and probasal bodies. The protein is present as at least two molecular-weight variants that can be converted to a single form with phosphatase treatment. Synthesis of Uni2 protein is induced during cell division cycles; accumulation of the phosphorylated form coincides with assembly of transition zones and flagella at the end of the division cycle. Using the Uni2 protein as a cell cycle marker of basal bodies, we observed migration of basal bodies before flagellar resorption in some cells, indicating that flagellar resorption is not required for mitotic progression. We observed the sequential assembly of new probasal bodies beginning at prophase. The uni2 mutants may be defective in the pathways leading to flagellar assembly and to basal body maturation.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 2999-3012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen T. O'Toole ◽  
Thomas H. Giddings ◽  
J. Richard McIntosh ◽  
Susan K. Dutcher

Improved methods of specimen preparation and dual-axis electron tomography have been used to study the structure and organization of basal bodies in the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Novel structures have been found in both wild type and strains with mutations that affect specific tubulin isoforms. Previous studies have shown that strains lacking δ-tubulin fail to assemble the C-tubule of the basal body. Tomographic reconstructions of basal bodies from the δ-tubulin deletion mutant uni3-1 have confirmed that basal bodies contain mostly doublet microtubules. Our methods now show that the stellate fibers, which are present only in the transition zone of wild-type cells, repeat within the core of uni3-1 basal bodies. The distal striated fiber is incomplete in this mutant, rootlet microtubules can be misplaced, and multiflagellate cells have been observed. A suppressor of uni3-1, designated tua2-6, contains a mutation in α-tubulin. tua2-6; uni3-1 cells build both flagella, yet they retain defects in basal body structure and in rootlet microtubule positioning. These data suggest that the presence of specific tubulin isoforms in Chlamydomonas directly affects the assembly and function of both basal bodies and basal body-associated structures.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2605-2614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violaine Mottier-Pavie ◽  
Timothy L. Megraw

Cilia and flagella play multiple essential roles in animal development and cell physiology. Defective cilium assembly or motility represents the etiological basis for a growing number of human diseases. Therefore, how cilia and flagella assemble and the processes that drive motility are essential for understanding these diseases. Here we show that Drosophila Bld10, the ortholog of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Bld10p and human Cep135, is a ubiquitous centriolar protein that also localizes to the spermatid basal body. Mutants that lack Bld10 assemble centrioles and form functional centrosomes, but centrioles and spermatid basal bodies are short in length. bld10 mutant flies are viable but male sterile, producing immotile sperm whose axonemes are deficient in the central pair of microtubules. These results show that Drosophila Bld10 is required for centriole and axoneme assembly to confer cilium motility.


1975 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
U W Goodenough ◽  
H S StClair

The mutant strain bald-2 is unique among "flagellaless" strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii isolated to date, in that it possesses a mutant basal body: it is only capable of forming a ring of nine singlet microtubules, 180 nm in diameter, instead of the usual triplet basal body which is 225 nm in diameter. This singlet basal body lacks structural stability and the ability to associate with striated fiber material but retains two critical properties of basal bodies, namely, information specifying the length to which it should elongate and the ability to induce, albeit rarely, a flagellar transition region, a short, singlet-containing axoneme, and a specialized tunnel in the cell wall through which flagella normally emerge. The mutation seems to be specific for B- and C-microtubule synthesis or assembly since all other cytoplasmic sets of microtubules appear normal in numbers, orientation, and stability.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-181
Author(s):  
Andrea M Preble ◽  
Thomas H Giddings ◽  
Susan K Dutcher

Abstract bld2-1 mutant Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strains assemble basal bodies with singlet microtubules; bld2-1 cells display flagellar assembly defects as well as positioning defects of the mitotic spindle and cleavage furrow. To further understand the role of the BLD2 gene, we have isolated three new bld2 alleles and three partially dominant extragenic suppressors, rgn1-1, rgn1-2, and rgn1-3. bld2 rgn1-1 strains have phenotypes intermediate between those of bld2 and wild-type strains with respect to flagellar number, microtubule rootlet organization, cleavage furrow positioning, and basal body structural phenotypes. Instead of the triplet microtubules of wild-type cells, bld2 rgn1-1 basal bodies have mixtures of no, singlet, doublet, and triplet microtubules. The bld2-4 allele was made by insertional mutagenesis and identified in a noncomplementation screen in a diploid strain. The bld2-4 allele has a lethal phenotype based on mitotic segregation in diploid strains and in haploid strains generated by meiotic recombination. The lethal phenotype in haploid strains is suppressed by rgn1-1; these suppressed strains have similar phenotypes to other bld2 rgn1-1 double mutants. It is likely that BLD2 is an essential gene that is needed for basal body assembly and function.


eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna L Wingfield ◽  
Ilaria Mengoni ◽  
Heather Bomberger ◽  
Yu-Yang Jiang ◽  
Jonathon D Walsh ◽  
...  

Intraflagellar transport (IFT) trains, multimegadalton assemblies of IFT proteins and motors, traffic proteins in cilia. To study how trains assemble, we employed fluorescence protein-tagged IFT proteins in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. IFT-A and motor proteins are recruited from the cell body to the basal body pool, assembled into trains, move through the cilium, and disperse back into the cell body. In contrast to this ‘open’ system, IFT-B proteins from retrograde trains reenter the pool and a portion is reused directly in anterograde trains indicating a ‘semi-open’ system. Similar IFT systems were also observed in Tetrahymena thermophila and IMCD3 cells. FRAP analysis indicated that IFT proteins and motors of a given train are sequentially recruited to the basal bodies. IFT dynein and tubulin cargoes are loaded briefly before the trains depart. We conclude that the pool contains IFT trains in multiple stages of assembly queuing for successive release into the cilium upon completion.


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