This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zweifel, E.
Right arrow Articles by Cole, E. S.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zweifel, E.
Right arrow Articles by Cole, E. S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Eukaryotic Cell, June 2009, p. 899-912, Vol. 8, No. 6
1535-9778/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00342-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Nested Genes CDA12 and CDA13 Encode Proteins Associated with Membrane Trafficking in the Ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila {triangledown} ,{dagger}

Erica Zweifel,1 Joshua Smith,2 Daniel Romero,3 Thomas H. Giddings Jr.,4 Mark Winey,4 Jerry Honts,5 Jeff Dahlseid,6 Brent Schneider,1 and Eric S. Cole1*

Biology Department, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota 55057,1 Biomedical Sciences, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri 65897,2 Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455,3 Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado—Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309,4 Department of Biology, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50311,5 Department of Biology and Chemistry, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota 560826

Received 13 October 2008/ Accepted 16 February 2009

We describe a novel pair of nested genes, CDA12 and CDA13, from Tetrahymena thermophila. Both are implicated in membrane trafficking associated with cell division and conjugation. Green fluorescent protein localization reveals Cda12p decoration of diverse membrane-bound compartments, including mobile, subcortical tubulovesicular compartments; perinuclear vesicles; and candidates for recycling endosomes. Cda13p decorates intracellular foci located adjacent to cortically aligned mitochondria and their neighboring Golgi networks. The expression of antisense CDA12 RNA in transformants produces defects in cytokinesis, macronuclear segregation, and the processing of pinosomes to downstream compartments. Antisense CDA13 RNA expression produces a conjugation phenotype, resulting in the failure of mating pairs to separate, as well as failures in postconjugation cytokinesis and macronuclear fission. This study offers insight into the membrane trafficking events linking endosome and Golgi network activities, cytokinesis, and karyokinesis and the unique membrane-remodeling events that accompany conjugation in the ciliate T. thermophila. We also highlight an unusual aspect of genome organization in Tetrahymena, namely, the existence of nested, antisense genes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Biology Department, St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Ave., Northfield, MN 55057. Phone: (507) 786-3395. Fax: (507) 786-3968. E-mail: colee{at}stolaf.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 13 March 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://ec.asm.org/.

Eukaryotic Cell, June 2009, p. 899-912, Vol. 8, No. 6
1535-9778/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00342-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kumar, A. (2009). An Overview of Nested Genes in Eukaryotic Genomes. Eukaryot Cell 8: 1321-1329 [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»