Cooperation between Paxillin-like Protein Pxl1 and Glucan Synthase Bgs1 Is Essential for Actomyosin Ring Stability and Septum Formation in Fission Yeast

In fungal cells cytokinesis requires coordinated closure of a contractile actomyosin ring (CAR) and synthesis of a special cell wall structure known as the division septum. Many CAR proteins have been identified and characterized, but how these molecules interact with the septum synthesis enzymes to form the septum remains unclear. Our genetic study using fission yeast shows that cooperation between the paxillin homolog Pxl1, required for ring integrity, and Bgs1, the enzyme responsible for linear β(1,3)glucan synthesis and primary septum formation, is required for stable anchorage of the CAR to the plasma membrane before septation onset, and for cleavage furrow formation. Thus, lack of Pxl1 in combination with Bgs1 depletion, causes failure of ring contraction and lateral cell wall overgrowth towards the cell lumen without septum formation. We also describe here that Pxl1 concentration at the CAR increases during cytokinesis and that this increase depends on the SH3 domain of the F-BAR protein Cdc15. In consequence, Bgs1 depletion in cells carrying a cdc15_ΔSH3 allele causes ring disassembly and septation blockage, as it does in cells lacking Pxl1. On the other hand, the absence of Pxl1 is lethal when Cdc15 function is affected, generating a large sliding of the CAR with deposition of septum wall material along the cell cortex, and suggesting additional functions for both Pxl1 and Cdc15 proteins. In conclusion, our findings indicate that CAR anchorage to the plasma membrane through Cdc15 and Pxl1, and concomitant Bgs1 activity, are necessary for CAR maintenance and septum formation in fission yeast.     

The contractile ring coordinates curvature-dependent septum assembly during fission yeast cytokinesis

The functions of the actin-myosin–based contractile ring in cytokinesis remain to be elucidated. Recent findings show that in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, cleavage furrow ingression is driven by polymerization of cell wall fibers outside the plasma membrane, not by the contractile ring. Here we show that one function of the ring is to spatially coordinate septum cell wall assembly. We develop an improved method for live-cell imaging of the division apparatus by orienting the rod-shaped cells vertically using microfabricated wells. We observe that the septum hole and ring are circular and centered in wild-type cells and that in the absence of a functional ring, the septum continues to ingress but in a disorganized and asymmetric manner. By manipulating the cleavage furrow into different shapes, we show that the ring promotes local septum growth in a curvature-dependent manner, allowing even a misshapen septum to grow into a more regular shape. This curvature-dependent growth suggests a model in which contractile forces of the ring shape the septum cell wall by stimulating the cell wall machinery in a mechanosensitive manner. Mechanical regulation of the cell wall assembly may have general relevance to the morphogenesis of walled cells.     

AN ULTRASTRUCTURAL STUDY OF VEGETATIVE CELL DIVISION IN OEDOGONIUM BORISIANUM12

Vegetative cell division in Oedogonium borisianum is initiated by the formation of a 3-layered ring adjacent to the wall in the upper portion of the cell. This structure enlarges by the coalescence of vesicles. When the ring is fully developed, the parent wall splits adjacent to the ring, and the ring expands into a cylinder, which becomes the cuticle of the upper daughter cell. The lateral wall then forms between this cuticle and the plasmalemma of the cell. Concurrent with ring development and expansion, the nucleus migrates to a position in the center of the cell and karyokinesis occurs. Commencing with late telophase, evidence of transverse wall formation becomes apparent. The zone between the daughter nuclei contains a layer of microtubules in a plane parallel to the plane in which the transverse wall will develop. Subsequently a random coalescence of vesicles occurs along this plane. During the latter stages of this process, the ring expands and the plane of the transverse wall moves upward to the base of the ring cylinder. The completed transverse wall then fuses at is periphery with the newly formed lateral wall.     

Specific Features of Chlorinated Biphenyl Decomposition by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhodococcus wratislaviensis</Emphasis> Strain KT112-7 under High Salt Conditions

Rhodococcus wratislaviensis strain KT112-7 (VKM As-2623D) degraded monosubstituted 2-/4-chlorobiphenyls (94.25 mg/L) and 2,4'-dichlorobiphenyl (22.3 mg/L) when the sodium chloride content in the culture medium did not exceed 50 g/L. We have calculated the kinetic parameters of chlorobiphenyl (CB) decomposition by the КТ112-7 strain, which demonstrated decreased decomposition efficiency with increasing NaCl concentration. A linear correlation has been found between the content of saturated, unsaturated, and branched fatty acids in the cell wall of the KT112-7 strain and the NaCl content in the culture medium. The change in the content and composition of fatty acids in the cell wall apparently led to a change in the permeability of the CB cell wall. R. wratislaviensis strain KT112-7 was able to oxidize the unsubstituted ring in 2-CB and 4-CB at all studied NaCl concentrations in the medium and efficiently decomposed the chlorobenzoic acids (CBAs) that formed as a result of the oxidation. Decomposition of 2,4'-CB at low NaCl concentrations in the medium (not higher than 10 g/L) involved the oxidation of the ring substituted by chlorine in the position 4, while the presence of 20–50 g/L of NaCl led to the oxidation of the ring substituted by chlorine in the position 2. The main detected metabolite was 2-chlorobenzoic acid in the former case and 4-chlorobenzoic acid in the latter. The 4-CBA transformation proceeded via the formation of protocatechuic acid (3,4-hydroxybenzoic acid) and catechol at all of the studied sodium chloride concentrations in the medium and through another pathway involving the formation of chlorocatechol at NaCl concentrations of 30, 40, and 50 g/L.     

变铅青链霉菌内源线性质粒接合转移必需功能区的鉴定

通常细菌间环型质粒在接合转移过程中,单链质粒DNA在质粒内部“oriT”接合转移起始位点发生缺刻.随后,打开的单链质粒DNA通过细胞膜的Ⅳ型分泌系统转移到受体菌中.但是,链霉菌中的接合型线型质粒带有游离3′端,5′端与末端蛋白结合,因而不能以细胞-细胞间方式转移单链缺刻DNA.报道了变铅青链霉菌线型质粒SLP2衍生的环型质粒,与SLP2一样可以高频高效接合转移,并鉴定了接合转移功能区.质粒有效的接合转移功能区包含6个共转录的基因,分别编码一个Tra样的DNA转移酶、胞壁水解酶、2个膜蛋白(可以与ATP结合蛋白相互作用)和一个功能未知的蛋白质.从SalⅠR-/M-向SalⅠR/M宿主转移的质粒频率下降表明,线型和环型的质粒都是以双链的形式转移的.上述研究结果表明SLP2衍生的线型质粒和环型质粒以相似的与细胞膜/胞壁功能相关的机理进行接合转移.     

Extracellular cell wall β(1,3)glucan is required to couple septation to actomyosin ring contraction

Cytokinesis has been extensively studied in different models, but the role of the extracellular cell wall is less understood. Here we studied this process in fission yeast. The essential protein Bgs4 synthesizes the main cell wall β(1,3)glucan. We show that Bgs4-derived β(1,3)glucan is required for correct and stable actomyosin ring positioning in the cell middle, before the start of septum formation and anchorage to the cell wall. Consequently, β(1,3)glucan loss generated ring sliding, oblique positioned rings and septa, misdirected septum synthesis indicative of relaxed rings, and uncoupling between a fast ring and membrane ingression and slow septum synthesis, suggesting that cytokinesis can progress with defective septum pushing and/or ring pulling forces. Moreover, Bgs4-derived β(1,3)glucan is essential for secondary septum formation and correct primary septum completion. Therefore, our results show that extracellular β(1,3)glucan is required for cytokinesis to connect the cell wall with the plasma membrane and for contractile ring function, as proposed for the equivalent extracellular matrix in animal cells.     

Monte Carlo simulation of the adsorption of C2–C7 linear alkanes in aluminophosphate AlPO4-11

The adsorption behaviors of linear alkanes ranging in length from C₂ to C₇ in AlPO₄-11 have been simulated by using configurational-bias Monte Carlo technique at 313 K. The calculated heats of adsorption at zero coverage for linear alkanes, estimated by Henry coefficients, are consistent well with previously reported experimental and simulation results. The simulated isotherms for n-hexane in AlPO₄-11 at 298 K agree with the experimental data. The isotherms of C₂–C₇ linear alkane were predicted, in which butane presents a substep. The adsorbed alkane molecules are only localized in 10-membered ring channels, and adsorbed phase structures for each alkane were investigated. Total potentials for individual alkane molecule decrease with increasing number of carbon atoms. A linear change in total potential is observed for each linear alkane with increasing loading per unit cell, except that an increasing trend is found in the total potential curve of butane as the loading per unit cell is higher than two molecules.     

On the possible permeation of water across the glucose transporter

The possibility that the glucose transporter may serve as water channel is explored with the help of theoretical and experimental arguments. A model for a pore is drawn based on a hypothetical water channel structure, subject to the constraints that: molecules will bind to the channel wall in successive rings, forming a hollow sleeve; an integer number of molecules will exist in each ring; the pore radius will not be large enough to allow water molecules along its center, but will be large enough to allow glucose molecules across. The only configurations that meet these conditions exhibit either 5 or 6 water molecules abreast in each ring, with pore radii of 4.1 and 4.5 Å, respectively. The kinetic characteristics of such pores are estimated and found to conform to available evidence.     

Crystallization of reptile hemoglobin during its digestion in a pentastomide

The hemoglobin of the lizard Tarentola annularis has been studied within erythrocytes being digested in the gut of a parasitic pentastomide, Raillietiella sp. The hemoglobin is crystallized in the form of bundles comprised of numerous tubules (up to 2000). These tubules are simple or complex. Simple tubules are 50 nm in diameter; their wall is made up of two electron-opaque rings, separated by a clear ring. Complex tubules are up to 100 nm in diameter and show as many as 13 concentric walls. High magnification of transverse sections of simple tubules show 96 granules; each opaque ring is made up of 48 granules. Human hemoglobin is known to crystallize as 18-nm tubules, the wall of which is made up of six molecules; comparison of these data with our observations indicates that transverse sections of tubules of crystallized lizard hemoglobin should contain 24 molecules. Thus, each molecule of crystallized lizard hemoglobin consists of four granules; these granules may be considered as globin molecules. Erythrocytes in fresh lizard blood do not show crystallized hemoglobin; however, in blood treated with sodium bisulfite, they show tubules similar to that found in the parasite.     

Kinetics of Aluminum Uptake in Triticum aestivum L: Identity of the Linear Phase of Aluminum Uptake by Excised Roots of Aluminum-Tolerant and Aluminum-Sensitive Cultivars

The identity of a linear phase of aluminum (Al) uptake in Triticum aestivum was investigated by analysis of the kinetics of Al uptake by excised roots and purified cell wall fractions. Classical interpretation of kinetic data suggests that a linear phase of uptake with time reflects uptake across the plasma membrane; however, in studies with Al the possibility that the linear phase of uptake includes accumulation of Al in both the symplasm and the apoplasm has not been discounted. In our experiments, we observed a linear phase of Al uptake at both ambient and low temperatures, although the rate of uptake at 0°C was 53 to 72% less than at 23°C, depending on cultivars. This nonsaturable phase of uptake at low temperature suggests that a portion of the linear phase of Al uptake is nonmetabolic. Furthermore, analysis of Al in cell wall fractions isolated from excised roots pretreated with Al suggests that the linear phase of uptake includes a cell wall component. When excised roots were pretreated with Al, accumulation of Al in purified cell wall material included a linear phase that could not be desorbed with a 30 minute wash in citrate. The rates of linear-phase accumulation of Al by cell wall material and cell contents were similar. In contrast, the linear phase of in vitro uptake of Al by purified cell wall material was completely desorbed by a 30 minute wash with citrate. These results suggest that the linear phase of Al uptake observed in excised roots of T. aestivum included metabolism-dependent binding of Al in apoplasm.     

Porosity of the Yeast Cell Wall and Membrane

The limiting sizes of molecules that can permeate the intact cell wall and protoplast membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were determined from the inflection points in a triphasic pattern of passive equilibrium uptake values obtained with a series of inert probing molecules varying in molecular size. In the phase identified with the yeast protoplast, the uptake-exclusion threshold corresponded to a monodisperse ethylene glycol of molecular weight = 110 and Einstein-Stokes hydrodynamic radius (r(ES)) = 0.42 nm. In the cell wall phase, the threshold corresponded to a polydisperse polyethylene glycol of number-average molecular weight ( M(n)) = 620 and average radius (r(ES)) = 0.81 nm. The third phase corresponded to complete exclusion of larger molecules. The assessment of cell wall porosity was confirmed by use of a second method involving analytical gel chromatographic analyses of the molecular weight distribution for a single polydisperse polyglycol before and after uptake by the cells, which indicated a quasi-monodisperse threshold for the cell wall of M(n) = 760 and r(ES) = 0.89 nm. The results were reconciled with two situations in which much larger protein molecules previously have been reported able to penetrate the yeast cell wall.     

Freeze-Etching and X-Ray Diffraction of the Isolated Double-Track Layer from the Cell Wall of a Gram-Negative Marine Pseudomonad

The isolated double-track layer of the cell wall of the gram-negative marine pseudomonad studied here contains a cleavage plane. This finding localizes the single cleavage plane of the cell wall and shows that the molecular architecture of this layer provides the lipid-enriched layer which cleaves preferentially in the frozen cell. The observation that the isolated double-track layer of the cell wall is sufficiently ordered at the molecular level to yield a well-defined X-ray diffraction pattern with a d-spacing of 0.44 nm shows that its molecular architecture is very similar to that of true membranes. This specific d-spacing is produced by the highly ordered packing of the hydrophobic portions of phospholipid molecules. Therefore, the double-track layer of the cell wall has been shown, by these two biophysical means, to have a molecular architecture which would allow it to function as the membrane-like “molecular sieve” layer, whose presence has been deduced from physiological data. This layer is important in the retention of cell wall-associated enzymes and in the control of the movement of large molecules through the cell wall.     

A Theoretical Model of Jigsaw-Puzzle Pattern Formation by Plant Leaf Epidermal Cells

Plant leaf epidermal cells exhibit a jigsaw puzzle–like pattern that is generated by interdigitation of the cell wall during leaf development. The contribution of two ROP GTPases, ROP2 and ROP6, to the cytoskeletal dynamics that regulate epidermal cell wall interdigitation has already been examined; however, how interactions between these molecules result in pattern formation remains to be elucidated. Here, we propose a simple interface equation model that incorporates both the cell wall remodeling activity of ROP GTPases and the diffusible signaling molecules by which they are regulated. This model successfully reproduces pattern formation observed in vivo, and explains the counterintuitive experimental results of decreased cellulose production and increased thickness. Our model also reproduces the dynamics of three-way cell wall junctions. Therefore, this model provides a possible mechanism for cell wall interdigitation formation in vivo.     

Contributions of turgor pressure, the contractile ring, and septum assembly to forces in cytokinesis in fission yeast

A paradigm of cytokinesis in animal cells is that the actomyosin contractile ring provides the primary force to divide the cell [1]. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, cytokinesis also involves a conserved cytokinetic ring, which has been generally assumed to provide the force for cleavage [2-4] (see also [5]). However, in contrast to animal cells, cytokinesis in yeast cells also requires the assembly of a cell wall septum [6], which grows centripetally inward as the ring closes. Fission yeast, like other walled cells, also possess high (MPa) turgor pressure [7-9]. Here, we show that turgor pressure is an important factor in the mechanics of cytokinesis. Decreasing effective turgor pressure leads to an increase in cleavage rate, suggesting that the inward force generated by the division apparatus opposes turgor pressure. The contractile ring, which is predicted to provide only a tiny fraction of the mechanical stress required to overcome turgor, is largely dispensable for ingression; once septation has started, cleavage can continue in the absence of the contractile ring. Scaling arguments and modeling suggest that the large forces for cytokinesis are not produced by the contractile ring but are driven by the assembly of cell wall polymers in the growing septum.     

Structural changes in the cell wall of Schizosaccharomyces pombe during cell division

Streiblová, Eva (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechoslovakia), I. Málek, and K. Beran. Structural changes in the cell wall of Schizosaccharomyces pombe during cell division. J. Bacteriol. 91:428-435. 1966.-Individual stages of growing and dividing cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe were studied by means of fluorescence and electron microscopy with the use of metal-shadowed isolated walls, replicas, and ultrathin sections. Vegetative cells were found to contain division scars (six at the most); their formation and structure are described. More data on the growth of arthrospores were obtained. New structural observations were made on the architecture of the cell wall (original wall ring, polar cell wall, plug wall band, additional wall ring). Structural changes of cell surfaces and lateral walls during fission are represented schematically to the fourth generation. The question of origin of the septum is discussed, and on this basis the entire structure of the cell wall is interpreted.     

A close-up view of wood structure and properties across a growth ring of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L] Karst.)

A growth ring of an adult Norway spruce (Picea abies [L] Karst.) was analyzed to a high resolution at the single cell level with respect to structural and mechanical changes during the growth period. For this purpose structural characterization was performed by means of light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and wide angle X-ray diffraction for investigating the geometry of cells, their cell wall fractions and cellulose microfibril angles (MFA). The mechanical properties were determined in microtensile tests on individual tracheids which had been taken from sequentially cut tangential slices. The results revealed pronounced differences in tensile stiffness between earlywood and latewood cells but only minor differences in tensile stiffness between the cell walls of both tissue types. These comparatively small changes in cell wall stiffness across the growth ring were caused by slight changes in MFA. The findings suggest that trees mainly vary cell size to optimize water transport and mechanical stability during the growth period and that modification of the cell wall organisation plays a minor role.     

Cell wall analysis

The cell wall is a rigid structure essential for survival of the fungal cell. Because of its absence in mammalian cells, the cell wall is an attractive target for antifungal agents. Thus, for different reasons, it is important to know how the cell wall is synthesized and how different molecules regulate that synthesis. The Schizosaccharomyces pombe cell wall is mainly formed by glucose polysaccharides and some galactomannoproteins. Here, we describe a fast and reliable method to analyze changes in S. pombe cell wall composition by using specific enzymatic degradation and chemical treatment of purified cell walls. This approach provides a powerful means to analyze changes in (1,3)beta-glucan and (1,3)alpha-glucan, two main polysaccharides present in fungal cell walls. Analysis of cell wall polymers will be useful to search for new antifungal drugs that may inhibit cell wall biosynthesis and/or alter cell wall structure.     

Biophysical consequences of remodeling the neutral side chains of rhamnogalacturonan I in tubers of transgenic potatoes

Two lines of transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants modified in their cell wall structure were characterized and compared to wild type with regard to biomechanical properties in order to assign functional roles to the particular cell wall polysaccharides that were targeted by the genetic changes. The targeted polymer was rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I), a complex pectic polysaccharide comprised of mainly neutral oligosaccharide side chains attached to a backbone of alternating rhamnosyl and galacturonosyl units. Tuber rhamnogalacturonan I molecules from the two transformed lines are reduced in linear galactans and branched arabinans, respectively. The transformed tuber tissues were found to be more brittle when subjected to uniaxial compression and the side-chain truncation was found to be correlated with the physical properties of the tissue. Interpretation of the force–deflection curves was aided by a mathematical model that describes the contribution of the cellulose microfibrils, and the results lead to the proposition that the pectic matrix plays a role in transmitting stresses to the load-bearing cellulose microfibrils and that even small changes to the rheological properties of the matrix have consequences for the biophysical properties of the wall.     

CELL DIVISION IN BULBOCHAETE. II. HAIR CELL FORMATION1

Most vegetative cells of Bulbochaete, and all those of Oedogonium, possess an apical, circular discontinuity in the structure of their secondary wall. Rupture of the wall at this precise site permits expansion of the ring during cell division and release of the zoospore following zoosporogenesis. Certain cells of Bulbochaete (always the apical daughter cell of a division pair) lack this type of discontinuity. Instead, the apical wall is thinned out on one side, so that the cell bulges asymmetrically. In the middle of the bulge is a wall discontinuity which extends only part way around the cell. The wall will rupture here, too, for zoospore release, but if a cell having such a wall, divides, it invariably does so asymmetrically, with one pole of the spindle located in the bulge. Cytokinesis then cuts off a small, colorless daughter cell. The wall ruptures at the discontinuity, and this daughter cell emerges through the slit and differentiates into a hair. The creation of hairs in such cells commences with the deposition of a pad of primary wall lining the bulge. Golgi bodies are involved in its secretion, but not in that of a secondary wall layer which forms next in the premitotic cell and covers the primary wall. The cell becomes polarized; the nucleus migrates toward this region as the chloroplast moves aside. After the asymmetric mitosis, a curved phycoplast cuts off the hair cell nucleus and prevents the chloroplast from moving back into the future hair, whose cytoplasm soon loses much of its affinity for heavy metal stains. Following rupture of the parental wall, the phycoplast moves some distance past the limits of the newly deposited secondary wall layer and then forms a cross wall under the hair. The secondary wall of the hair is not continuous with the secondary wall structure of the parental cell; the circular discontinuity that arises around the base of the bulging parental wall is then perpetuated and accentuated as the hair's secondary wall thickens. This wall weakening becomes the dislocation that will predetermine the site of the ring and consequently the direction of cell expansion in the next normal division of the cell subtending the hair. Abnormal ring formation and the creation of terminal twin hairs have also been examined. The lip of the growing hair contains a characteristic organization of membranes and other components which may be related to the organization of the hair's numerous longitudinally oriented microtubules. These results are discussed in terms of the morphology of the wall in the Oedogionales generally. The creation of the special wall morphology that leads to hair cell formation is considered to be ontogenetically related to a similar wall morphology that is involved in formation of the fertilization pore of the oogonium.