Toxoplasma gondii UBL‐UBA shuttle proteins contribute to the degradation of ubiquitinylated proteins and are important for synchronous cell division and virulence

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 13711-13725
Author(s):  
Heng Zhang ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Zhu Ying ◽  
Shuang Li ◽  
Yihan Wu ◽  
...  
2001 ◽  
Vol 155 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Delbac ◽  
Astrid Sänger ◽  
Eva M. Neuhaus ◽  
Rolf Stratmann ◽  
James W. Ajioka ◽  
...  

In apicomplexan parasites, actin-disrupting drugs and the inhibitor of myosin heavy chain ATPase, 2,3-butanedione monoxime, have been shown to interfere with host cell invasion by inhibiting parasite gliding motility. We report here that the actomyosin system of Toxoplasma gondii also contributes to the process of cell division by ensuring accurate budding of daughter cells. T. gondii myosins B and C are encoded by alternatively spliced mRNAs and differ only in their COOH-terminal tails. MyoB and MyoC showed distinct subcellular localizations and dissimilar solubilities, which were conferred by their tails. MyoC is the first marker selectively concentrated at the anterior and posterior polar rings of the inner membrane complex, structures that play a key role in cell shape integrity during daughter cell biogenesis. When transiently expressed, MyoB, MyoC, as well as the common motor domain lacking the tail did not distribute evenly between daughter cells, suggesting some impairment in proper segregation. Stable overexpression of MyoB caused a significant defect in parasite cell division, leading to the formation of extensive residual bodies, a substantial delay in replication, and loss of acute virulence in mice. Altogether, these observations suggest that MyoB/C products play a role in proper daughter cell budding and separation.


2000 ◽  
Vol 151 (7) ◽  
pp. 1423-1434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Striepen ◽  
Michael J. Crawford ◽  
Michael K. Shaw ◽  
Lewis G. Tilney ◽  
Frank Seeber ◽  
...  

Apicomplexan parasites harbor a single nonphotosynthetic plastid, the apicoplast, which is essential for parasite survival. Exploiting Toxoplasma gondii as an accessible system for cell biological analysis and molecular genetic manipulation, we have studied how these parasites ensure that the plastid and its 35-kb circular genome are faithfully segregated during cell division. Parasite organelles were labeled by recombinant expression of fluorescent proteins targeted to the plastid and the nucleus, and time-lapse video microscopy was used to image labeled organelles throughout the cell cycle. Apicoplast division is tightly associated with nuclear and cell division and is characterized by an elongated, dumbbell-shaped intermediate. The plastid genome is divided early in this process, associating with the ends of the elongated organelle. A centrin-specific antibody demonstrates that the ends of dividing apicoplast are closely linked to the centrosomes. Treatment with dinitroaniline herbicides (which disrupt microtubule organization) leads to the formation of multiple spindles and large reticulate plastids studded with centrosomes. The mitotic spindle and the pellicle of the forming daughter cells appear to generate the force required for apicoplast division in Toxoplasma gondii. These observations are discussed in the context of autonomous and FtsZ-dependent division of plastids in plants and algae.


Development ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-150
Author(s):  
N. N. Rott ◽  
G. A. Sheveleva

The period of development preceding gastrulation can be divided into two stages. The first is characterized by rapid synchronous cell division. True interphase, which is characterized by the fusion of karyomers and the occurrence of a nucleolus, is absent at this stage. During the second stage the rate of cell division decreases and divisions are asynchronous. The process of cell division is antagonistic to genetic activity of nuclei, as nuclear synthesis of m-RNA appears to cease during mitosis. Consequently, one can suggest that the increase of the length of interphase is necessary for the onset of morphogenetic nuclear function, which ensures gastrulation and subsequent development (Neyfakh, 1959). The present investigation was designed first to determine exactly the time of the appearance of the changes in the rate of cell division and to compare it with the time of onset of morphogenetic nuclear function.


1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 889-900
Author(s):  
HIROSHI MIYAMOTO ◽  
L. RASMUSSEN ◽  
E. ZEUTHEN

As L cells go through their growth-division cycle they acquire the capacity to respond progressively more strongly to certain standard changes in the temperature of the environment. Using techniques described earlier, we found that chilling to 1, 6 or 10 °C for 1 h had little effect on the timing of the forthcoming division. Conversely, heating for 1 h to temperatures between 41 and 42 °C had a strong effect. Generally, the older the cell when heated, the more extended is its generation time; in other words, the longer is the forthcoming division postponed. We found evidence that late in the cycle the cells undergo transition from a state in which they are maximally delayed with respect to the performance of a division to one in which they are less delayed. We attempted to synchronize cell divisions with single and with series of heat shocks (41.6 °C for 1 h). Like our predecessors in the field, we obtained only partial synchrony. However, because L cells appear to prepare for division between shocks, and because heat shocks tend to reverse such preparations for division, we find reason to continue these experiments, using previous experience with Tetrahymena and Schizosaccharomyces as a guide. Both the latter cells respond to proper temperature treatment with synchronous cell division.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. e0125705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica S. Martins-Duarte ◽  
Faustine Dubar ◽  
Philippe Lawton ◽  
Cristiane França da Silva ◽  
Maria de Nazaré C. Soeiro ◽  
...  

1999 ◽  
Vol 343 (2) ◽  
pp. 479-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shulin WANG ◽  
Shigeru NAKASHIMA ◽  
Osamu NUMATA ◽  
Kenta FUJIU ◽  
Yoshinori NOZAWA

To identify transcriptionally regulated mediators associated with the cell cycle, we adopted the differential mRNA display technique for cell cultures of Tetrahymenapyriformis synchronized by cyclic heat treatment. One cDNA fragment that was expressed differently during synchronous cell division had a greatly decreased expression at 30 min after the end of heat treatment (EHT). Using this fragment as a probe, we isolated the full-length cDNA for T. pyriformis acetyl-CoA synthetase (TpAcs) which encodes a 651 amino acid polypeptide with a predicted molecular mass of 72.8 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of T. pyriformis ACS shows 42% sequence identity compared with that ofLysobacter sp. acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS), an enzyme which catalyses the formation of acetyl-CoA from acetate via an acetyl-adenylate intermediate. The deduced sequence is also 41% and 40% identical compared with those of Pseudomonas putida and Coprinus cinereus ACS, respectively. The deduced sequence of T. pyriformis ACS also shares similar characteristics of the conserved motifs I and II in the ACS family. To further investigate the actions of the gene encoding this enzyme, mRNA expression was determined during the course of synchronized cell division in T. pyriformis. Northern blot results show that the mRNA level was dramatically decreased at 30 min after EHT prior to entering synchronous cell division (which occurs 75 min after EHT), suggesting that mRNA expression of the TpAcs was associated with the cell cycle and that the down-regulated expression of TpAcs at 30 min after EHT would be required for the initiation of the oncoming synchronous cell division in T. pyriformis.


2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 1500-1512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Gordon ◽  
Wandy L. Beatty ◽  
L. David Sibley

ABSTRACT Cell division in Toxoplasma gondii occurs by an unusual budding mechanism termed endodyogeny, during which twin daughters are formed within the body of the mother cell. Cytokinesis begins with the coordinated assembly of the inner membrane complex (IMC), which surrounds the growing daughter cells. The IMC is compiled of both flattened membrane cisternae and subpellicular filaments composed of articulin-like proteins attached to underlying singlet microtubules. While proteins that comprise the elongating IMC have been described, little is known about its initial formation. Using Toxoplasma as a model system, we demonstrate that actin-like protein 1 (ALP1) is partially redistributed to the IMC at early stages in its formation. Immunoelectron microscopy localized ALP1 to a discrete region of the nuclear envelope, on transport vesicles, and on the nascent IMC of the daughter cells prior to the arrival of proteins such as IMC-1. The overexpression of ALP1 under the control of a strong constitutive promoter disrupted the formation of the daughter cell IMC, leading to delayed growth and defects in nuclear and apicoplast segregation. Collectively, these data suggest that ALP1 participates in the formation of daughter cell membranes during cell division in apicomplexan parasites.


1973 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 668-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Leban Johnston ◽  
Edgar F. Carell

When vitamin B12 is added to B12-deficient cultures of Euglena gracilis, the cells undergo two relatively synchronous cell divisions within a shorter than usual period of time, apparently as a result of a transitory shortening of the cell cycle. The first cell division pulse, occurring 4.5 h after addition of B12, is preceded by the completion of DNA duplication, but appears to involve no net synthesis of RNA or protein. Before the second round of cell division at about 11 h, a significant amount of DNA synthesis is observed. This time it is accompanied by a minor increase in the RNA and protein content of the culture. The cellular contents of RNA and protein were observed to decrease steadily after the resumption of cell division in B12-depleted cultures receiving the vitamin. Ultimately all three macromolecules returned to their nondeficient, plateau stage levels; by this time, cell division had ceased.


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