The daughter four-membered microtubule rootlet determines anterior-posterior positioning of the eyespot in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

ABSTRACT: The characteristic geometry of the unicellular chlorophyte Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has contributed to its adoption as a model system for cellular asymmetry and organelle positioning. The eyespot, a photosensitive organelle, is localized asymmetrically in the cell at a precisely defined position relative to the flagella and cytoskeletal microtubule rootlets. We have isolated a mutant, named pey1 for posterior eyespot, with variable microtubule rootlet lengths. The length of the acetylated daughter four-membered (D4) microtubule rootlet correlates with the position of the eyespot, which appears in a posterior position in the majority of cells. The correlation of rootlet length with eyespot positioning was also observed in the cmu1 mutant, which has longer acetylated microtubules, and the m

SUBMITTER: Boyd JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3201734 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature