The cell cycle and its relationship to aggregation in the cellular slime mold, Dictyostelium discoideum

Abstract

Vegetative amoebae of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum were synchronized by the use of a temperature-sensitive mutant. The synchronized population was then used to analyze the cell cycle in Dictyostelium discoideum. This in turn enabled us to study the relationship between specific stages of the cell cycle and the initiation of aggregation. It was shown that all cells are at the same position (midway in G 2) at the time of aggregation. Synchronous cells starved at all points in the cell cycle, however, took the same length of time to aggregate. This suggests that the limiting step in the aggregation process is starvation, which is independent of the position of the cells in the cell cycle.