Acid phosphatase activity and microcyst differentiation in the cellular slime mold Polysphondylium pallidum

The enzyme acid phosphatase (E.G. 3.1.3.2) is present in Polysphondylium pallidum and increases during microcyst differentiation. The increase of enzyme activity occurs during the period of morphological differentiation of microcysts. The use of the inhibitor cycloheximide provides evidence that the increase in enzyme activity requires coincident protein synthesis. Acid phosphatase activity also accumulates extracellularly but the extracellular release of this activity is not stopped by cycloheximide. A cystless mutant (strain NG-6) shows a high but essentially unchanging intracellular level of acid phosphatase and a slightly delayed extracellular pattern of accumulation. A comparison of other enzyme patterns in strain NG-6 indicates that different control mechanisms in addition to the regulation of translation may mediate the appearance of. different enzymes during microcyst differentiation.