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Eukaryotic Cell, October 2004, p. 1241-1248, Vol. 3, No. 5
1535-9778/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/EC.3.5.1241-1248.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Control of Cell Type Proportioning in Dictyostelium discoideum by Differentiation-Inducing Factor as Determined by In Situ Hybridization

Toshinari Maruo,1 Haruyo Sakamoto,1 Negin Iranfar,2 Danny Fuller,2 Takahiro Morio,3 Hideko Urushihara,3 Yoshimasa Tanaka,3 Mineko Maeda,1* and William F. Loomis2*

Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka,1 Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Japan,3 Cell and Developmental Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California2

Received 19 May 2004/ Accepted 7 July 2004

We have determined the proportions of the prespore and prestalk regions in Dictyostelium discoideum slugs by in situ hybridization with a large number of prespore- and prestalk-specific genes. Microarrays were used to discover genes expressed in a cell type-specific manner. Fifty-four prespore-specific genes were verified by in situ hybridization, including 18 that had been previously shown to be cell type specific. The 36 new genes more than doubles the number of available prespore markers. At the slug stage, the prespore genes hybridized to cells uniformly in the posterior 80% of wild-type slugs but hybridized to the posterior 90% of slugs lacking the secreted alkylphenone differentiation-inducing factor 1 (DIF-1). There was a compensatory twofold decrease in prestalk cells in DIF-less slugs. Removal of prespore cells resulted in cell type conversion in both wild-type and DIF-less anterior fragments. Thus, DIF-1 appears to act in concert with other processes to establish cell type proportions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address for Mineko Maeda: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan. Phone: 81-6-6850-5810. Fax: 81-6-6850-5817. E-mail: mmaeda{at}bio.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp. Mailing address for William F. Loomis: Cell and Developmental Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California—San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093. Phone: (858) 534-2543. Fax: (858) 822-2094. E-mail: wloomis{at}ucsd.edu.

Eukaryotic Cell, October 2004, p. 1241-1248, Vol. 3, No. 5
1535-9778/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/EC.3.5.1241-1248.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Gross, J. D. (2009). Acidic Ca2+ Stores, Excitability, and Cell Patterning in Dictyostelium discoideum. Eukaryot Cell 8: 696-702 [Full Text]  
  • Anjard, C., Loomis, W. F. (2006). GABA induces terminal differentiation of Dictyostelium through a GABAB receptor. Development 133: 2253-2261 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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