Molecular Biology of the Cell click for ASCB 2009 Annual Meeting page

Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Originally published as MBC in Press, 10.1091/mbc.E08-09-0900 on November 12, 2008

Vol. 20, Issue 1, 368-378, January 1, 2009

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental Materials
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
E08-09-0900v1
20/1/368    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Piasecki, B. P.
Right arrow Articles by Silflow, C. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Piasecki, B. P.
Right arrow Articles by Silflow, C. D.

The UNI1 and UNI2 Genes Function in the Transition of Triplet to Doublet Microtubules between the Centriole and Cilium in Chlamydomonas

Brian P. Piasecki, and Carolyn D. Silflow

Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108

Submitted September 2, 2008; Revised October 14, 2008; Accepted October 30, 2008
Monitoring Editor: Kerry S. Bloom

One fundamental role of the centriole in eukaryotic cells is to nucleate the growth of cilia. The unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii provides a simple genetic system to study the role of the centriole in ciliogenesis. Wild-type cells are biflagellate, but "uni" mutations result in failure of some centrioles (basal bodies) to assemble cilia (flagella). Serial transverse sections through basal bodies in uni1 and uni2 single and double mutant cells revealed a previously undescribed defect in the transition of triplet microtubules to doublet microtubules, a defect correlated with failure to assemble flagella. Phosphorylation of the Uni2 protein is reduced in uni1 mutant cells. Immunogold electron microscopy showed that the Uni2 protein localizes at the distal end of the basal body where microtubule transition occurs. These results provide the first mechanistic insights into the function of UNI1 and UNI2 genes in the pathway mediating assembly of doublet microtubules in the axoneme from triplet microtubules in the basal body template.

This was published online ahead of print in MBC in Press (http://www.molbiolcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1091/mbc.E08-09-0900) on November 12, 2008.

Address correspondence to: Carolyn D. Silflow (silfl001{at}umn.edu).

Abbreviations used: IFT, intraflagellar transport; TZ, transition zone; WT, wild-type.






Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Copyright © 2009 by The American Society for Cell Biology. Terms of copyright protection, warranties, and disclaimers.