Analyzed the role of calcineurin in the development of Dictyostelium discoideum by …

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Biology Articles » Protistology » Fungus-like Protists » Aberrant stalk development and breakdown of tip dominance in Dictyostelium cell lines with RNAi-silenced expression of calcineurin B » Conclusion

Conclusion

- Aberrant stalk development and breakdown of tip dominance in Dictyostelium cell lines with RNAi-silenced expression of calcineurin B

Dictyostelium calcineurin B knock down mutants produced smaller stalk cells and as a consequence smaller stalks due to incomplete vacuolization of stalk cells. We propose that calcineurin mediates the effects of a differentiation-inducing factor (DIF)-elicited increase in free intracellular calcium in prestalk cells via the dephosphorylation of a cytosolic transcription complex component which activates the expression of prestalk genes. Culminating fruiting bodies formed ectopic tips on the spore heads which points to a link between calcineurin and the wnt pathway in the social amoebae.