Multiple Modes of Cell Death Discovered in a Prokaryotic (Cyanobacterial) Endosymbiont.

ABSTRACT: Programmed cell death (PCD) is a genetically-based cell death mechanism with vital roles in eukaryotes. Although there is limited consensus on similar death mode programs in prokaryotes, emerging evidence suggest that PCD events are operative. Here we present cell death events in a cyanobacterium living endophytically in the fern Azolla microphylla, suggestive of PCD. This symbiosis is characterized by some unique traits such as a synchronized development, a vertical transfer of the cyanobacterium between plant generations, and a highly eroding cyanobacterial genome. A combination of methods was used to identify cell death modes in the cyanobacterium. Light- and electron microscopy analyses showed that the proportion of cells undergoing cell death peaked at 53.6% (average 20%) of the total

SUBMITTER: Zheng W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3688857 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature