Spatial gradients of calcium in the slug of Dictyostelium discoideum

Azhar, M and Saran, Shweta and Nanjundiah, Vidyanand (1995) Spatial gradients of calcium in the slug of Dictyostelium discoideum. In: Current Science (Bangalore), 68 (3). pp. 337-342.

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Abstract

Starved amoebae of D. discoideum aggregate and give rise to a long and thin multicellular structure called the slug. The cells within the slug eventually differentiate according to a simple anterior/posterior dichotomy. This motivates a search for gradients of putative morphogens along its axis. Calcium may be one such morphogen. On the basis of observations made by using the calcium-sensitive fluorescent dyes fura-2 and chlortetracyline, we report that there are spatial gradients in cytoplasmic and sequestered calcium in the slug. Anteriorly located and genetically defined prestalk cells (ecmA/pstA, ecmB/pstAB) contain significantly higher levels of calcium than the prespore cells in the posterior. However, the proportion of 'calcium-rich' cells in the slug is greater than that of the subset of prestalk cells defined by the expression of the ecmA or ecmB genes.

Item Type:	Editorials/Short Communications
Publication:	Current Science (Bangalore)
Publisher:	Indian Academy of Sciences
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Molecular Reproduction, Development & Genetics
Date Deposited:	26 May 2011 06:08
Last Modified:	06 Oct 2018 14:57
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/37912

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