Plant and Cell Physiology Advance Access published online on May 17, 2008
Plant and Cell Physiology, doi:10.1093/pcp/pcn076
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Characterization of novel genes induced by sexual adhesion and gamete fusion and of their transcriptional regulation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
1 Department of Applied Science, Faculty of Science, Okayama University of Science, Okayama 700-0005, Japan
2 Department of Molecular Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kobe University, Nada-ku, Kobe 657-8501, Japan
3 Division of Integral Life Science, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
4 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan
Corresponding author: Dr. Tatsuaki Saito. Department of Applied Science, Faculty of Science, Okayama University of Science, 1-1 Ridai-cho, Okayama, Japan 700-0005. Phone: +81-86-256-9408. Fax: +81-86-256-9408. E-mail address: saito{at}das.ous.ac.jp
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Abstract |
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When mating-type plus and minus gametes of Chlamydomonas are mixed, they agglutinate with each other via their flagella, fuse, then initiate the zygote formation program which includes synthesis of the zygote-cell wall, fusion of nuclei and chloroplasts, and the digestion of chloroplast DNA from the minus parent. The mRNAs from gamete and zygote cells was isolated and hybridized to cDNA-macroarray filters both to identify new genes expressed during the mating reaction and the early zygote formation process and to analyze the gene expression programs that underlie these sexual processes. Twenty-one novel genes were identified in this screen, designated as EZY (early zygote expressed) genes. The EZY genes included genes encoding proteins whose function is unknown, and genes encoding proteins seemed that appear to be involved in processes such as cell wall-synthesis, gene expression, intracellular trafficking or secretion and vesicular transport occurred in zygotic cells. All of the EZY genes were strongly induced within 1 hour during the mating process including early zygote formation. The transcriptional characteristics of EZY genes were analyzed by using the fusion defective mutant fus mt+. Among the EZY genes, twelve genes were not activated in fusion defective conditions, suggesting that cell fusion is required for their expression. The remaining nine that were transcribed in fusion defective fus matings were also inducible by cell wall removal in either vegetative or gametic cells indicating that these genes were induced only indirectly by the cAMP signaling pathway initiated by flagellar agglutination as a result of mating-induced cell wall loss.
Keywords: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii - Zygote formation - Cell-cell recognition - Transcriptional regulation
Present address: Division of Integral Life Science, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Present address: Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Japan Women's University, Tokyo, 112-8681, Japan
(Received March 14, 2008; Accepted April 12, 2008)
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