title: Dictyostelium amoebae lacking an F-box protein form spores rather than stalk in chimeras with wild type.
abstract: Using a selection for Dictyostelium mutants that preferentially form spores, we have recovered a mutant called CheaterA. In chimeras with isogenic wild-type cells, the CheaterA mutant preferentially forms viable spores rather than inviable stalk cells. The mutant causes wild-type cells that have begun to express spore-specific genes to accumulate in the prestalk compartment of the developing organism. In the wild-type cells, the chtA transcript is absent in growing cells and appears early in development. No transcript was detected in the mutant by Northern blot. The chtA gene codes for a protein with an F-box and WD40 domains. This class of protein usually forms part of an Skp1, cullin, F-box (SCF) complex that targets specific protein substrates for ubiquitination and degradation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ennis
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Dao
authors.forename: S U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Pukatzki
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Kessin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D002678:Chimera; D017931:DNA Primers; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D044783:F-Box Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D013172:Spores, Fungal
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; C406731:ChtA protein, Dictyostelium; D017931:DNA Primers; D044783:F-Box Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins