Emerging roles for diguanylate cyclase during the evolution of soma in dictyostelia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cyclic di-guanylate (c-di-GMP), synthesized by diguanylate cyclase, is a major second messenger in prokaryotes, where it triggers biofilm formation. The dictyostelid social amoebas acquired diguanylate cyclase (dgcA) by horizontal gene transfer. Dictyostelium discoideum (Ddis) in taxon group 4 uses c-di-GMP as a secreted signal to induce differentiation of stalk cells, the ancestral somatic cell type that supports the propagating spores. We here investigated how this role for c-di-GMP evolved in Dictyostelia by exploring dgcA function in the group 2 species Polysphondylium pallidum (Ppal) and in Polysphondylium violaceum (Pvio), which resides in a small sister clade to group 4.

Results

Similar to Ddis, dgcA is upregulated after aggregation in Ppal and Pvio and pre

SUBMITTER: Kawabe Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10559540 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature