Dataset Information

Depletion of UBC9 Causes Nuclear Defects during the Vegetative and Sexual Life Cycles in Tetrahymena thermophila.

ABSTRACT: Ubc9p is the sole E2-conjugating enzyme for SUMOylation, and its proper function is required for regulating key nuclear events such as transcription, DNA repair, and mitosis. In Tetrahymena thermophila, the genome is separated into a diploid germ line micronucleus (MIC) that divides by mitosis and a polyploid somatic macronucleus (MAC) that divides amitotically. This unusual nuclear organization provides novel opportunities for the study of SUMOylation and Ubc9p function. We identified the UBC9 gene and demonstrated that its complete deletion from both MIC and MAC genomes is lethal. Rescue of the lethal phenotype with a GFP-UBC9 fusion gene driven by a metallothionein promoter generated a cell line with CdCl2-dependent expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-Ubc9p. Depletion of Ubc9p in vegetative cells resulted in the loss of MICs, but MACs continued to divide. In contrast, expression of catalytically inactive Ubc9p resulted in the accumulation of multiple MICs. Critical roles for Ubc9p were also identified during the sexual life cycle of Tetrahymena. Cell lines that were depleted for Ubc9p did not form mating pairs and therefore could not complete any of the subsequent stages of conjugation, including meiosis and macronuclear development. Mating between cells expressing catalytically inactive Ubc9p resulted in arrest during macronuclear development, consistent with our observation that Ubc9p accumulates in the developing macronucleus.

SUBMITTER: Yang Q

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4664876 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Depletion of UBC9 Causes Nuclear Defects during the Vegetative and Sexual Life Cycles in Tetrahymena thermophila.

Yang Qianyi Q Nasir Amjad M AM Coyne Robert S RS Forney James D JD

Eukaryotic cell 20151009 12

Ubc9p is the sole E2-conjugating enzyme for SUMOylation, and its proper function is required for regulating key nuclear events such as transcription, DNA repair, and mitosis. In Tetrahymena thermophila, the genome is separated into a diploid germ line micronucleus (MIC) that divides by mitosis and a polyploid somatic macronucleus (MAC) that divides amitotically. This unusual nuclear organization provides novel opportunities for the study of SUMOylation and Ubc9p function. We identified the UBC9 ...[more]

PMID: 26453653

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Project description:The ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila contains two distinct nuclei within a single cell-the mitotic micronucleus and the amitotic macronucleus. Although microtubules are required for proper division of both nuclei, macronuclear chromosomes lack centromeres and the role of microtubules in macronuclear division has not been established. Here we describe nuclear division defects in cells expressing a mutant beta-tubulin allele that confers hypersensitivity to the microtubule-stabilizing drug paclitaxel. Macronuclear division is profoundly affected by the btu1-1 (K350M) mutation, producing cells with widely variable DNA contents, including cells that lack macronuclei entirely. Protein expressed by the btu1-1 allele is dominant over wild-type protein expressed by the BTU2 locus. Normal macronuclear division is restored when the btu1-1 allele is inactivated by targeted disruption or expressed as a truncated protein. Immunofluorescence studies reveal elongated microtubular structures that surround macronuclei that fail to migrate to the cleavage furrows. In contrast, other cytoplasmic microtubule-dependent processes, such as cytokinesis, cortical patterning, and oral apparatus assembly, appear to be unaffected in the mutant. Micronuclear division is also perturbed in the K350M mutant, producing nuclei with elongated early-anaphase spindle configurations that persist well after the initiation of cytokinesis. The K350M mutation affects tubulin dynamics, as the macronuclear division defect is exacerbated by three treatments that promote microtubule polymerization: (i) elevated temperatures, (ii) sublethal concentrations of paclitaxel, and (iii) high concentrations of dimethyl sulfoxide. Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) with 3-methyladenine or wortmannin also induces amacronucleate cell formation in a btu1-1-dependent manner. Conversely, the myosin light chain kinase inhibitor ML-7 has no effect on nuclear division in the btu1-1 mutant strain. These findings provide new insights into microtubule dynamics and link the evolutionarily conserved PI 3-kinase signaling pathway to nuclear migration and/or division in Tetrahymena.

Dataset Information

Depletion of UBC9 Causes Nuclear Defects during the Vegetative and Sexual Life Cycles in Tetrahymena thermophila.

Publications

Depletion of UBC9 Causes Nuclear Defects during the Vegetative and Sexual Life Cycles in Tetrahymena thermophila.

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