Chapter 17 Prestalk and Prespore Differentiation During Development of Dictyosteuum Discoideum

Abstract

Publisher Summary Although the development of cellular slime molds is simple, it nevertheless contains major features observable in more complex higher organisms. A homogeneous cell population produced during the growth phase aggregates and forms a tissue in which two types of cells differentiate in a linear pattern. They appear in a certain proportion irrespective of the tissue size and are interconvertible until they terminally differentiate. These features—together with the ease with which the organisms can be handled experimentally—have attracted many researchers who, although belong to different disciplines, share a common interest in the analysis of development. The development of the cellular slime molds is, thus, regarded as a model system to which different approaches—from molecular to mathematical—are now applicable. This chapter concentrates on the differentiation of two cell types (prestalk/prespore and stalk/spore) within the developing tissue of Dictyostelium discoideum, the most widely studied species of cellular slime molds. It also discusses the convertibility of cell types in relation to the reproductive strategy of differentiation.