Fertilization in brown algae. I. SEM and other observations on Fucus serratus

1978 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54
Author(s):  
M.E. Callow ◽  
L.V. Evans ◽  
G.P. Bolwell ◽  
J.A. Callow

The cell wall secreted immediately following sperm entry into an egg can be visualized by the fluorescent dye Calcofluor white. Cell wall secretion precedes nuclear fusion by 10–20 min. SEM observations of the surface of unfertilized and fertilized eggs and sperm attachment to eggs are described. These results are discussed in relation to fertilization in sea urchins and the biochemical phenomena associated with egg-sperm recognition in Fucus.

1983 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-108
Author(s):  
H.I. Vithanage ◽  
J.W. Catt ◽  
J.A. Callow ◽  
M.E. Callow ◽  
L.V. Evans

Flagella antigens from sperm of Fucus serratus have been used to raise antibodies in rabbits. The immunoglobulin G fraction inhibits fertilization with some degree of species specificity. The antigens detected on sperm are not present on unfertilized egg membranes, but appear after fertilization. The common antigens on the fertilized egg can be distinguished from the cell wall material that is also released on fertilization.


Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 165 (2) ◽  
pp. 517-529
Author(s):  
Kentaro Ohkuni ◽  
Asuko Okuda ◽  
Akihiko Kikuchi

AbstractNbp2p is a Nap1-binding protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae identified by its interaction with Nap1 by a two-hybrid system. NBP2 encodes a novel protein consisting of 236 amino acids with a Src homology 3 (SH3) domain. We showed that NBP2 functions to promote mitotic cell growth at high temperatures and cell wall integrity. Loss of Nbp2 results in cell death at high temperatures and in sensitivity to calcofluor white. Cell death at high temperature is thought not to be due to a weakened cell wall. Additionally, we have isolated several type-2C serine threonine protein phosphatases (PTCs) as multicopy suppressors and MAP kinase-kinase (MAPKK), related to the yeast PKC MAPK pathway, as deletion suppressors of the nbp2Δ mutant. Screening for deletion suppressors is a new genetic approach to identify and characterize additional proteins in the Nbp2-dependent pathway. Genetic analyses suggested that Ptc1, which interacts with Nbp2 by the two-hybrid system, acts downstream of Nbp2 and that cells lacking the function of Nbp2 prefer to lose Mkk1, but the PKC MAPK pathway itself is indispensable when Nbp2 is deleted at high temperature.


2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 2376-2379 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Werth ◽  
C. Vidaillac ◽  
K. P. Murray ◽  
K. L. Newton ◽  
G. Sakoulas ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe demonstrated a significant inverse correlation between vancomycin and beta-lactam susceptibilities in vancomycin-intermediateStaphylococcus aureus(VISA) and heterogeneous VISA (hVISA) isolates. Using time-kill assays, vancomycin plus oxacillin or ceftaroline was synergistic against 3 of 5 VISA and 1 of 5 hVISA isolates or 5 of 5 VISA and 4 of 5 hVISA isolates, respectively. Beta-lactam exposure reduced overall vancomycin-Bodipy (dipyrrometheneboron difluoride [4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene] fluorescent dye) binding but may have improved vancomycin-cell wall interactions to improve vancomycin activity. Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanism behind vancomycin and beta-lactam synergy.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2056-2065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekkehard Hiller ◽  
Sonja Heine ◽  
Herwig Brunner ◽  
Steffen Rupp

ABSTRACT The SUN gene family has been defined in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and comprises a fungus-specific family of proteins which show high similarity in their C-terminal domains. Genes of this family are involved in different cellular processes, like DNA replication, aging, mitochondrial biogenesis, and cytokinesis. In Candida albicans the SUN family comprises two genes, SUN41 and SIM1. We demonstrate that C. albicans mutants lacking SUN41 show similar defects as found for S. cerevisiae, including defects in cytokinesis. In addition, the SUN41 mutant showed a higher sensitivity towards the cell wall-disturbing agent Congo red, whereas no difference was observed in the presence of calcofluor white. Compared to the wild type, SUN41 deletion strains exhibited a defect in biofilm formation, a reduced adherence on a Caco-2 cell monolayer, and were unable to form hyphae on solid medium under the conditions tested. Interestingly, Sun41p was found to be secreted in the medium of cells growing as blastospores as well as those forming hyphae. Our results support a function of SUN41p as a glycosidase involved in cytokinesis, cell wall biogenesis, adhesion to host tissue, and biofilm formation, indicating an important role in the host-pathogen interaction.


Microbiology ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 150 (8) ◽  
pp. 2641-2651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amparo Galán ◽  
Manuel Casanova ◽  
Amelia Murgui ◽  
Donna M. MacCallum ◽  
Frank C. Odds ◽  
...  

Immunoscreening of a Candida albicans cDNA library with a polyclonal germ-tube-specific antibody (pAb anti-gt) resulted in the isolation of a gene encoding a lysine/glutamic-acid-rich protein, which was consequently designated KER1. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of this gene displayed no significant homology with any other known sequence. KER1 encodes a 134 kDa lysine (14·5 %)/glutamic acid (16·7 %) protein (Ker1p) that contains two potential transmembrane segments. KER1 was expressed in a pH-conditional manner, with maximal expression at alkaline pH and lower expression at pH 4·0, and was regulated by RIM101. A Δker1/Δker1 null mutant grew normally but was hyperflocculant under germ-tube-inducing conditions, yet this behaviour was also observed in stationary-phase cells grown under other incubation conditions. Western blotting analysis of different subcellular fractions, using as a probe a monospecific polyclonal antibody raised against a highly antigenic domain of Ker1p (pAb anti-Ker1p), revealed the presence of a 134 kDa band in the purified plasma-membrane fraction from the wild-type strain that was absent in the homologous preparation from Δker1/Δker1 mutant. The pattern of cell-wall protein and mannoprotein species released by digestion with β-glucanases, reactive towards pAbs anti-gt and anti-Ker1p, as well as against concanavalin A, was also different in the Δker1/Δker1 mutant. Mutant strains also displayed an increased cell-surface hydrophobicity and sensitivity to Congo red and Calcofluor white. Overall, these findings indicate that the mutant strain was affected in cell-wall composition and/or structure. The fact that the ker1 mutant had attenuated virulence in systemic mouse infections suggests that this surface protein is also important in host–fungus interactions.


1978 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 337-356
Author(s):  
M.E. Callow ◽  
S.J. Coughlan ◽  
L.V. Evans

The cell wall of 24-h zygotes of Fucus serratus is composed of 3 layers—an inner fibrillar layer (sulphated fucan), an outer fibrillar layer (alginic aicd/cellulose) and an exterior amorphous layer (sulphated fucan, alginic acid). The 2 layers containing sulphated fucan are preferentially thickened at the rhizoid pole. Light- and electron-microscope autoradiographic pulse-chase experiments on 22-h zygotes using 35SO2-(4) show the Golgi bodies to be the sites of fucan sulphation. The isolation and characterization of isolated Golgi-rich fractions from 22-h zygotes shows that the first detectable labelled macromolecule is associated with these fractions 2 min after addition of 35SO2-(4). The sulphate acceptor molecule has been partially characterized. 35S-APS and 35S-paps are detectable in the soluble fraction 0.5 min after addition of 35SO2-(4). The results are discussed in relation to other published work on the differentiation of Fucus embryos and on polysaccharide sulphation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (12) ◽  
pp. 3721-3729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Horiuchi ◽  
Makoto Fujiwara ◽  
Shuichi Yamashita ◽  
Akinori Ohta ◽  
Masamichi Takagi

ABSTRACT We have found that the Aspergillus nidulans csmA gene encodes a novel protein which consists of an N-terminal myosin motor-like domain and a C-terminal chitin synthase domain (M. Fujiwara, H. Horiuchi, A. Ohta, and M. Takagi, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 236:75–78, 1997). To clarify the roles of csmA in fungal morphogenesis, we constructed csmA null mutants. The growth rate of the mutant colonies was almost the same as that of the wild-type strain, but hyphal growth was severely inhibited when a chitin-binding reagent, Calcofluor white or Congo red, was added to the medium. Moreover, morphological abnormalities in tip growth and septum formation were identified microscopically. Proliferation of intracellular new hyphae, called intrahyphal hyphae, which behaved as intrinsic hyphae, was the most striking phenotypic feature among them. These phenotypes were not suppressed when the only chitin synthase domain of csmA was expressed under the control of thealcA promoter, whereas they were suppressed when the intact form of csmA was expressed. Therefore, it was concluded that the product of csmA (CsmA) has important roles in polarized cell wall synthesis and maintenance of cell wall integrity and that the myosin motor-like domain is indispensable for these functions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Awanish Kumar ◽  
Sanjiveeni Dhamgaye ◽  
Indresh Kumar Maurya ◽  
Ashutosh Singh ◽  
Monika Sharma ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTCurcumin (CUR) shows antifungal activity against a range of pathogenic fungi, includingCandida albicans. The reported mechanisms of action of CUR include reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, defects in the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway, decrease in hyphal development, and modulation of multidrug efflux pumps. Reportedly, each of these pathways is independently linked to the cell wall machinery inC. albicans, but surprisingly, CUR has not been previously implicated in cell wall damage. In the present study, we performed transcriptional profiling to identify the yet-unidentified targets of CUR inC. albicans. We found that, among 348 CUR-affected genes, 51 were upregulated and 297 were downregulated. Interestingly, most of the cell wall integrity pathway genes were downregulated. The possibility of the cell wall playing a critical role in the mechanism of CUR required further validation; therefore, we performed specific experiments to establish if there was any link between the two. The fractional inhibitory concentration index values of 0.24 to 0.37 show that CUR interacts synergistically with cell wall-perturbing (CWP) agents (caspofungin, calcofluor white, Congo red, and SDS). Furthermore, we could observe cell wall damage and membrane permeabilization by CUR alone, as well as synergistically with CWP agents. We also found hypersusceptibility in calcineurin and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway mutants against CUR, which confirmed that CUR also targets cell wall biosynthesis inC. albicans. Together, these data provide strong evidence that CUR disrupts cell wall integrity inC. albicans. This new information on the mechanistic action of CUR could be employed in improving treatment strategies and in combinatorial drug therapy.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (11) ◽  
pp. 3330-3340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy Ketela ◽  
Robin Green ◽  
Howard Bussey

ABSTRACT The MID2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiaeencodes a protein with structural features indicative of a plasma membrane-associated cell wall sensor. MID2 was isolated as a multicopy activator of the Skn7p transcription factor. Deletion ofMID2 causes resistance to calcofluor white, diminished production of stress-induced cell wall chitin under a variety of conditions, and changes in growth rate and viability in a number of different cell wall biosynthesis mutants. Overexpression ofMID2 causes hyperaccumulation of chitin and increased sensitivity to calcofluor white. α-Factor hypersensitivity ofmid2Δ mutants can be suppressed by overexpression of upstream elements of the cell integrity pathway, includingPKC1, RHO1, WSC1, andWSC2. Mid2p and Wsc1p appear to have overlapping roles in maintaining cell integrity since mid2Δ wsc1Δ mutants are inviable on medium that does not contain osmotic support. A role for MID2 in the cell integrity pathway is further supported by the finding that MID2 is required for induction of Mpk1p tyrosine phosphorylation during exposure to α-factor, calcofluor white, or high temperature. Our data are consistent with a role for Mid2p in sensing cell wall stress and in activation of a response that includes both increased chitin synthesis and the Mpk1p mitogen-activated protein kinase cell integrity pathway. In addition, we have identified an open reading frame, MTL1, which encodes a protein with both structural and functional similarity to Mid2p.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Mengyan Li ◽  
Hanying Wang ◽  
Juqing Deng ◽  
Jianxing Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract The mechanism of fungal cell wall synthesis and assembly is still unclear. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) and pathogenic fungi are conserved in cell wall construction and response to stress signals, and often respond to cell wall stress through activated cell wall integrity (CWI) pathways. Whether the YLR358C open reading frame regulates CWI remains unclear. This study found that the growth of S. cerevisiae with YLR358C knockout was significantly inhibited on the medium containing different concentrations of cell wall interfering agents Calcofluor White (CFW), Congo Red (CR) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). CFW staining showed that the cell wall chitin was down-regulated, and transmission electron microscopy also observed a decrease in cell wall thickness. Transcriptome sequencing and analysis showed that YLR358C gene may be involved in the regulation of CWI signaling pathway. It was found by qRT-PCR that WSC3, SWI4 and HSP12 were differentially expressed after YLR358C was knocked out. The above results suggest that YLR358C may regulate the integrity of the yeast cell walls and has some potential for application in fermentation.


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