Functional necessity of the cytoskeleton during cleavage membrane development and zoosporogenesis in Allomyces macrogynus. 2004

David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
School of Life Sciences, Box 874501, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-4501.

Cleavage membrane development and cytokinesis were examined in zoosporangia of Allomyces macrogynus treated with cytoskeletal inhibitors and compared to zoosporogenesis under control conditions. Developing membranes were visualized in living zoosporangia with laser-scanning confocal microscopy using the lipophilic membrane dye FM4-64. Under control conditions, cleavage membranes developed in four discrete stages, ultimately interconnecting to delimit the cytoplasm into polygonal uninucleate domains of near uniform size. Disruption of microtubules did not impede the normal four-stage development of cleavage membranes, and cytokinesis occurred with only minor detectable anomalies, although zoospores lacked flagella. Disruption of actin microfilaments did not inhibit membrane formation but blocked nuclear migration and significantly disrupted membrane alignment and cytoplasmic delimitation. This resulted in masses of membrane that remained primarily in cortical regions of the zoosporangia, as did nuclei, throughout zoosporogenesis. Zoospores formed in the absence of microtubules had only a slightly larger mean diameter than control zoospores, although nearly 50% of spores contained two or more nuclei. Microfilament inhibitor treatments produced spores with substantially larger mean diameters and correspondingly larger numbers of nuclei per spore, with greater than 85% containing three or more nuclei. These results showed that a functional actin microfilament cytoskeleton was required for proper alignment of cleavage elements and cytokinesis in Allomyces zoosporangia while microtubules played a less significant role.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
January 2014, Mycologia,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
September 1980, Journal of bacteriology,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
January 1977, Cytobios,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
January 1973, Protoplasma,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
August 2010, Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
September 1980, Journal of bacteriology,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
August 1976, Archives of microbiology,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
August 1956, Experimental cell research,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
April 1978, Biochimica et biophysica acta,
David S Lowry, and Karen E Fisher, and Robert W Roberson
May 1969, Journal of general microbiology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!