Molecular Biology of the Cell Call for Nominations: MBC Editor-in-Chief

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


     

MBC in Press, published online ahead of print October 20, 2004
Mol. Biol. Cell 10.1091/mbc.E04-07-0586

A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2005
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
E04-07-0586v1
16/1/270    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 Marshall, W. F.
Right arrow Articles by Rosenbaum, J. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Marshall, W. F.
Right arrow Articles by Rosenbaum, J. L.

Submitted on July 13, 2004
Revised on October 5, 2004
Accepted on October 6, 2004

Flagellar Length Control System: Testing a Simple Model Based on Intraflagellar Transport and Turnover

Wallace F. Marshall,*{dagger} Hongmin Qin,{ddagger} Mónica Rodrigo Brenni,* and Joel L. Rosenbaum{ddagger}

*Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143; {ddagger}Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520

Monitoring Editor: Lawrence Goldstein

Flagellar length regulation provides a simple model system for addressing the general problem of organelle size control. Based on a systems-level analysis of flagellar dynamics, we have proposed a mechanism for flagellar length control in which length is set by the balance of continuous flagellar assembly and disassembly. The model proposes that the assembly rate is length dependent due to the inherent length-dependence of intraflagellar transport, while disassembly is length independent, such that the two rates can only reach a balance-point at a single length. In this report, we test this theoretical model using three different measurements: (a) the quantity of intraflagellar transport machinery as a function of length, (b) the variation of flagellar length as a function of flagellar number, and (c) the rate of flagellar growth as a function of length. We find that the quantity of intraflagellar transport machinery is independent of length, that flagellar length is a decreasing function of flagellar number, and that flagellar growth rate in regenerating flagella depends on length and not on the time since regeneration began. These results are consistent with the balance-point model for length control. The three strategies used here are not limited to flagella and can in principle be adapted to probe size-control systems for any organelle.

{dagger}Corresponding author. E-mail: wmarshall{at}biochem.ucsf.edu






Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] --
Copyright © 2004 by The American Society for Cell Biology. Terms of copyright protection, warranties, and disclaimers.