Budding patterns during the cell cycle of the maize smut pathogen Ustilago maydis

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (11) ◽  
pp. 1675-1680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Jacobs ◽  
Stephen J. Mattichak ◽  
James F. Knowles

Haploid sporidia of the dimorphic phytopathogen Ustilago maydis (D.C.) Corda reproduce by budding once each cell cycle. Homogeneous log-phase sporidial cultures were generated by serial passage in liquid culture, and the growth characteristics and percentages of budded cells were determined for the cultures. The characteristics of budding were determined for individual cells by light and electron microscopy. Buds emerged only from the poles of mother cells, and cells could select either a previously used bud site, or a new bud site, each cycle. Time-lapse photomicroscopy indicated that, on solid medium, the first two buds emerged from new cells at a point distal to the site of attachment to the mother cell. In subsequent cell cycles, the buds tended to emerge from alternate poles of the mother cell. The cells used multiple bud sites at each pole. In addition, transmission and scanning electron microscopy revealed a series of annulations (bud scars) at the base of some buds, indicating that cells also used the same budding site many times. This versatility in selecting bud sites indicates that budding likely depends on complex regulatory pathways for determining cellular polarity. Key words: Ustilago maydis, bud, polarity, cell cycle, morphogenesis, yeast.

2020 ◽  
Vol 202 (20) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Willis ◽  
Jeff Errington ◽  
Ling Juan Wu

ABSTRACT During sporulation of Bacillus subtilis, the cell cycle is reorganized to generate separated prespore and mother cell compartments, each containing a single fully replicated chromosome. The process begins with reorganization of the nucleoid to form an elongated structure, the axial filament, in which the two chromosome origins are attached to opposite cell poles, with the remainder of the DNA stretched between these sites. When the cell then divides asymmetrically, the division septum closes around the chromosome destined for the smaller prespore, trapping the origin-proximal third of the chromosome in the prespore. A translocation pore is assembled through which a DNA transporter, SpoIIIE/FtsK, transfers the bulk of the chromosome to complete the segregation process. Although the mechanisms involved in attaching origin regions to the cell poles are quite well understood, little is known about other aspects of axial filament morphology. We have studied the behavior of the terminus region of the chromosome during sporulation using time-lapse imaging of wild-type and mutant cells. The results suggest that the elongated structure involves cohesion of the terminus regions of the sister chromosomes and that this cohesion is resolved when the termini reach the asymmetric septum or translocation pore. Possible mechanisms and roles of cohesion and resolution are discussed. IMPORTANCE Endospore formation in Firmicutes bacteria provides one of the most highly resistant life forms on earth. During the early stages of endospore formation, the cell cycle is reorganized so that exactly two fully replicated chromosomes are generated, before the cell divides asymmetrically to generate the prespore and mother cell compartments that are critical for the developmental process. Decades ago, it was discovered that just prior to asymmetrical division the two chromosomes enter an unusual elongated configuration called the axial filament. This paper provides new insights into the nature of the axial filament structure and suggests that cohesion of the normally separated sister chromosome termini plays an important role in axial filament formation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1629) ◽  
pp. 20130006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi-Fang Wu ◽  
Natasha S. Savage ◽  
Daniel J. Lew

Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells polarize in order to form a single bud in each cell cycle. Distinct patterns of bud-site selection are observed in haploid and diploid cells. Genetic approaches have identified the molecular machinery responsible for positioning the bud site: during bud formation, specific locations are marked with immobile landmark proteins. In the next cell cycle, landmarks act through the Ras-family GTPase Rsr1 to promote local activation of the conserved Rho-family GTPase, Cdc42. Additional Cdc42 accumulates by positive feedback, creating a concentrated patch of GTP-Cdc42, which polarizes the cytoskeleton to promote bud emergence. Using time-lapse imaging and mathematical modelling, we examined the process of bud-site establishment. Imaging reveals unexpected effects of the bud-site-selection system on the dynamics of polarity establishment, raising new questions about how that system may operate. We found that polarity factors sometimes accumulate at more than one site among the landmark-specified locations, and we suggest that competition between clusters of polarity factors determines the final location of the Cdc42 cluster. Modelling indicated that temporally constant landmark-localized Rsr1 would weaken or block competition, yielding more than one polarity site. Instead, we suggest that polarity factors recruit Rsr1, effectively sequestering it from other locations and thereby terminating landmark activity.


1984 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 1415-1421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadayo Hashimoto ◽  
R. G. Emyanitoff ◽  
R. C. Mock ◽  
J. H. Pollack

The formation of arthroconidia, especially the ontogeny of the arthroconidial wall in the dermatophyte Trichophyton mentagrophytes, was investigated by light and electron microscopy. Time-lapse photomicroscopy revealed that the new septa were inserted regularly along the length of the hypha. Each new septum divided a preexisting hyphal segment into approximately equal halves. The initial sign of arthroconidium formation detected by electron microscopy was the deposition of a conidium-specific wall layer on the inner surface of the preexisting hyphal wall. The invaginating septal material was continuous with the newly deposited inner wall layer of the sporulating hyphae. When septation was completed, the septum and septal furrow were continuous across the wall to the inner edge of the outer wall layer. After septation, the inner wall continued to thicken until it attained the thickness of a mature arthroconidial wall (0.3 – 0.5 μm). Simultaneously, immature arthroconidia continued to swell and eventually assumed a barrel shape. When disarticulated, arthroconidia were surrounded by the newly formed conidial wall at the poles, and the sides of the conidia were additionally bounded by the residual hyphal wall. As the arthroconidia matured, the remnants of the hyphal wall tended to be detached from the spore surface. From these observations we conclude that T. mentagrophytes formed arthroconidia by the enteroarthric mode rather than the holoarthric process as previously described.


1977 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-257
Author(s):  
J. P. HESLOP ◽  
E. A. HOWES

1. Abdominal nerves of Rhodnius prolixus were studied with the light microscope under high-power Nomarski optics with a minimum of surgical interference. The preparation was perfused with bathing solutions which could be changed during time-lapse cinematography. 2. The structure of the nerve trunks was studied by light and electron microscopy. 3. The movements of intracellular organelles are described and discussed. 4. Saltatory movements of organelles, probably mitochondria, were followed at different temperatures. Rate of saltation varied linearly with temperature. 5. Axonal flow (bulk movement of cytoplasm) did not occur in healthy abdominal nerves.


1977 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 672-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Mullins ◽  
JJ Biesele

The events leading to the completion of cytokinesis after the formation of the midbody and intercellular bridge in D-98S cells were studied with light and electron microscopy. Pairs of daughter cells corresponding to different stages of cytokineses, as determined previously form time lapse films, were selected from embedded monolayers for serial sectioning. Separation of daughter cells is preceded by the reduction in diameter of the intercellular bridge from 1-1.5 μm to approx. 0.2 μm. Two processes contribute to this reduction: (a) The intercellular bridge becomes gradually thinner after telophase; a progressive breakdown of midbody structures accompanies this change; and (b) the more significant contribution to reduction in bridge diameter occurs through the localized constriction of a segment of the intercellular bridge.. The microtubules within the constricted portion of the bridge are forced closer together, and some microtubules disappear as this narrowing progresses. The plasma membrane over the narrowed segments is thrown into a series of wavelike ripples. Separation of daughter cells is achieved through movements of the cells which stretch and break the diameter-reduced bridge. The midbody is discarded after separation and begins to deteriorate. Occasional pairs of daughter cells were found in which incomplete karyokineses resulted in their nuclei being connected by a strand of nuclear material traversing the bridge and midbody. Such cells do not complete cytokinesis but merge together several hours after telophase. This merging of daughter cells coincides with the nearly complete breakdown of the midbody.


1977 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Brenner ◽  
A Branch ◽  
S Meredith ◽  
M W Berns

Light and electron microscopy were used to study somatic cell reduction division occurring spontaneously in tetraploid populations of rat kangaroo Potorous tridactylis (PtK2) cells in vitro. Light microscopy coupled with time-lapse photography documented the pattern of reduction division which includes an anaphase-like movement of double chromatid chromosomes to opposite spindle poles followed by the organization of two separate metaphase plates and synchronous anaphase division to form four poles and four daughter nuclei. The resulting daughter cells were isolated and cloned, showing their viability, and karyotyped to determine their ploidy. Ultrastructural analysis of cells undergoing reduction consistently revealed two duplexes of centrioles (one at each of two spindle poles) and two spindle poles in each cell that lacked centrioles but with microtubules terminating in a pericentriolar-like cloud of material. These results suggest that the centriole is not essential for spindle pole formation and division and implicate the could region as a necessary component of the spindle apparatus.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zak Swartz ◽  
Tzer Han Tan ◽  
Margherita Perillo ◽  
Nikta Fakhri ◽  
Gary M. Wessel ◽  
...  

The organismal body axes that are formed during embryogenesis are intimately linked to intrinsic asymmetries established at the cellular scale in oocytes. Here, we report an axis-defining event in meiotic oocytes of the sea star Patiria miniata. Dishevelled is a cytoplasmic Wnt pathway effector required for axis development in diverse species, but the mechanisms governing its function and distribution remain poorly defined. Using time-lapse imaging, we find that Dishevelled localizes uniformly to puncta throughout the cell cortex in Prophase I-arrested oocytes, but becomes enriched at the vegetal pole following meiotic resumption through a dissolution-condensation mechanism. This process is driven by an initial disassembly phase of Dvl puncta, followed by selective reformation of Dvl assemblies at the vegetal pole. Rather than being driven by Wnt signaling, this localization behavior is coupled to meiotic cell cycle progression and influenced by Lamp1+ endosome association and Frizzled receptors pre-localized within the oocyte cortex. Our results reveal a cell cycle-linked mechanism by which maternal cellular polarity is transduced to the embryo through spatially-regulated Dishevelled dynamics.


1994 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen M. Snetselaar ◽  
Charles W. Mims

Author(s):  
Tai-Te Chao ◽  
John Sullivan ◽  
Awtar Krishan

Maytansine, a novel ansa macrolide (1), has potent anti-tumor and antimitotic activity (2, 3). It blocks cell cycle traverse in mitosis with resultant accumulation of metaphase cells (4). Inhibition of brain tubulin polymerization in vitro by maytansine has also been reported (3). The C-mitotic effect of this drug is similar to that of the well known Vinca- alkaloids, vinblastine and vincristine. This study was carried out to examine the effects of maytansine on the cell cycle traverse and the fine struc- I ture of human lymphoblasts.Log-phase cultures of CCRF-CEM human lymphoblasts were exposed to maytansine concentrations from 10-6 M to 10-10 M for 18 hrs. Aliquots of cells were removed for cell cycle analysis by flow microfluorometry (FMF) (5) and also processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FMF analysis of cells treated with 10-8 M maytansine showed a reduction in the number of G1 cells and a corresponding build-up of cells with G2/M DNA content.


Author(s):  
Odell T. Minick ◽  
Hidejiro Yokoo ◽  
Fawzia Batti

Vacuolated cells in the liver of young rats were studied by light and electron microscopy following the administration of vitamin A (200 units per gram of body weight). Their characteristics were compared with similar cells found in untreated animals.In rats given vitamin A, cells with vacuolated cytoplasm were a prominent feature. These cells were found mostly in a perisinusoidal location, although some appeared to be in between liver cells (Fig. 1). Electron microscopy confirmed their location in Disse's space adjacent to the sinusoid and in recesses between liver cells. Some appeared to be bordering the lumen of the sinusoid, but careful observation usually revealed a tenuous endothelial process separating the vacuolated cell from the vascular space. In appropriate sections, fenestrations in the thin endothelial processes were noted (Fig. 2, arrow).


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