A cysteine-rich extracellular protein containing a PA14 domain mediates quorum sensing in Dictyostelium discoideum.

ABSTRACT: Much remains to be understood about quorum-sensing factors that allow cells to sense their local density. Dictyostelium discoideum is a simple eukaryote that grows as single-celled amoebae and switches to multicellular development when food becomes limited. As the growing cells reach a high density, they begin expressing discoidin genes. The cells secrete an unknown factor, and at high cell densities the concomitant high levels of the factor induce discoidin expression. We report here the enrichment of discoidin-inducing complex (DIC), an approximately 400-kDa protein complex that induces discoidin expression during growth and development. Two proteins in the DIC preparation, DicA1 and DicB, were identified by sequencing proteolytic digests. DicA1 and DicB were expressed in Escherichia col

SUBMITTER: Kolbinger A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1151990 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature