J. F. López-Sáez

On the triggering of mitosis and the division cycle of polynucleate cells

In binucleate 2n-2n and 4n-4n, trinucleate 2n-4n-2n and tetra nucleate cells 2n-2n-2n-2n which had been experimentally induced by means of caffeine (0.1% in tap water) in root-tip cells of onion bulbs (Allium cepa) division cycle time increases sligthly (about 15%) when the DNA content increases from 2n to 8n chromosomes per cell. The interphase time is not significantly modified, whereas the mitosis time increases (about 50%) in the tetranucleate cells in relation to the diploid mononucleate cells.The unsynchronized initiation of prophase and the subsequent synchronization of the nuclei in the polynucleate cells suggest an inhibiting mechanism regulating initiation of the mitosis via cytoplasm.

Organization of argyrophilic nucleolar material throughout the division cycle of meristematic cells

SummaryThe silver impregnation of nucleolar material facilitated the study of the morphological changes which take place in the nucleolus throughout the division cycle in root tip cells ofAllium cepa. The nucleolus appears to undergo no morphological changes throughout the interphase. It undergoes disorganization during the prophase, while in the telophase it appears uniformly on the chromatin as condensing into prenucleolar bodies.The appearance of the prenucleolar bodies is unaffected by puromycin, cordycepin, or ethidium bromide. This suggests that the argyrophilic material does not undergo synthesis during the telophase, nor require RNA or protein synthesis to effect the aggregation into prenucleolar bodies. However, the organization of nucleoli from prenucleolar bodies is inhibited by both cordycepin and ethidium bromide, suggesting that RNA synthesis is involved in this proccess.In aneuploid nuclei induced by treatment with colchicine we observed the appearance of prenucleolar bodies during the telophase even in the absence of the nucleolar organizer, but in this case the formation of nucleoli fails to take place. The nucleolar organizers proved to be capable of acting only in the nucleus to which they belong, but not on other nuclei within the same cytoplasm belonging to multinucleate cells.It seems logical to assume that one of the roles of the nucleolar organizer is related with the above-mentioned RNA synthesis, which is required to the aggregation of prenucleolar bodies into nucleoli.

A model for cell cycle and growth kinetics in roots

A model is proposed which accounts for the cell cycle and growth kinetics in roots growing under steady state conditions. In the model the root is conceived as a single file of cells and the three sequential zones of the root are considered. Nc cells, arranged in a single longitudinal file, make up the meristem zone. The most distal cell of this file is the initial and it has an indefinite cycle capacity, whereas all the others are derived cells with a limited programme of n cycles. The model predicts Nc = 2n. The number (Nc) of meristem cells will allow us to calculate the number of cycles that any derived cell undergoes before arresting division and triggering off its elongation. The cycle kinetics are linear and therefore the distribution of the Nc cells in the cycle compartments is directly proportional to each phase duration, and constant with time. The rate of meristem cell formation is defined by the cell flow (ϕ) as the frequency of cells that pass any point of the cycle per time unit. It also represents the frequency of cells that the meristem supplies to the elongation zone per time unit. The elongation zone is formed by Ntr cells in the process of enlargement. The model predicts that N tr = ϕ . N o . T tr Ttr being the time that cells devote to their enlargement throughout this zone. The equation allows us to estimate this value. Changes in root length will depend only on length changes in the mature zone where G = N o . ϕ . L G being the rate of growth and L the final cell size. During symplastic growth the root may be regarded as a bundle of files with identical growth rates. This leads to quantitative relationships between the growth components of the different kinds of files. Lastly, the fitness of the single file model against the actual growing root is discussed.

Nucleolar organizer expression in Allium cepa L. chromosomes.

Roots fromAllium cepa L. (cv.Francesa) bulbs in which a maximum of two nucleoli per nucleus developed were selected for this study. Five rDNA clusters were detected by fluorescent in situ hybridization on chromosomal squashes (2n=16) with a rhodamine-labelled wheat, rDNA repeat. The rDNA clusters were located on four chromosomes: the largest cluster occurred on the small arm of a single homologue of the smallest pair 8. Its homologue showed two different small rDNA. clusters, one near each telomere. The two homologues of the satellited chromosomes 6 also showed different rDNA contents, which were intermediate to those found in pair 8. The same five well-differentiated hybridization signals were observed in interphase cells that were inactive in transcription because they were in dormant roots, or in proliferating ones in which the synthesis of the large rRNA precursor was prevented. After multipolarizing agent was applied in anaphase followed by inhibition of cytokinesis, multinucleate autotetraploid cells were formed, which often contained more than four nucleoli. Thus, at least two of the three nucleolar organizer regions that consistently failed to develop a nucleolus in normal mononucleate cells were capable of developing nucleoli when segregated into different nuclei in multinucleate cells.

A model for dynamics of cell division cycle in onion roots

SummaryThe study of the cell division cycle by means of caffeine labelling inAllium roots, at 15° C, employing intact root and decapitated roots at several levels (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 mm) has shown that the number of cycles developed by the cells is constant at each meristem level. This number and the durations of the cycles are not affected by the decapitation. It is suggested that the cell cycle is controlled in the meristematic cells by an intracellular programme which would be developed throughout the meristem.However, the larger the region decapitated is, the more decreases the growth rate of the roots. The removal of the root cap (about 0.5 mm) did not modify the rate of root growth, although it blocked the geotropic response. The quiescent center is proposed as a source of auxin controlling cell elongation.

Fanconi anemia lymphocytes : effect of DL-α-tocopherol (Vitamin E) on chromatid breaks and on G2 repair efficiency

The high frequency of chromosomal breaks in Fanconi anemia (FA) lymphocytes has been related to the increased oxidative damage shown by these cells. The effect of 100 microM DL-alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E) on the level of chromosomal damage in mitosis was studied in lymphocytes from five FA patients and from age matched controls, both under basal conditions and when G2 repair was prevented by 2.5 mM caffeine (G2 unrepaired damage). In addition, the effect of this antioxidant on G2 duration and the efficiency of G2 repair was also evaluated in the sample. alpha-Tocopherol (AT) decreased the frequency of chromosomal damage (under basal and inhibited G2 repair conditions) and the duration of G2 in FA cells. This antioxidant protective effect, expressed as the decrease in chromatid breaks, was greater in FA cells (50.8%) than in controls (25%). The efficiency of the G2 repair process (G2 R rate) defined as the ratio between the percentage of chromatid breaks repaired in G2 and the duration of this cell cycle phase was lesser in FA cells (10.6) than in controls (22.6). AT treatment slightly increased this G2 R rate, both in FA cells and controls. These results suggest that an increased oxidative damage and a lower G2 repair rate may be simultaneously involved in the high frequency of chromatid damage detected in FA cells.

Relationship of chromosomal damage induced by caffeine to growth temperature and ATP level in proliferating cells

Caffeine is known to induce chromosomal aberrations in proliferating cells when they are incubated during G2 and mitotic prophase. In the present paper, this caffeine effect has been analyzed in Allium cepa root meristems growing at different culture temperatures under steady-state kinetics. Caffeine (1-10 mM) induces chromosomal aberrations in a dose-dependent manner, and the treatment efficiency correlates linearly with the square of caffeine concentration. The efficiency of caffeine incubations, within the range 5-25 degrees C during equivalent cycle time periods has also been studied. It has been found that the lower the culture temperature, the higher the level of chromosomal aberrations. Moreover, at different temperatures, the level of chromosomal aberrations is a simple function of caffeine concentration and the ATP level. Therefore, the efficiency of caffeine treatment appears to be determined by some interaction between caffeine concentration and cellular ATP level. Our present results demonstrate that the influence of growth temperature on the chromosome-breaking effect of caffeine can be, at least partially, explained by the ATP levels during the incubation periods. In short, under different kinetics of plant cell proliferation, the ATP level, and/or something correlating with it, could explain the efficiency of caffeine in inducing chromosomal aberrations: the lower the ATP level, the higher the caffeine efficiency.

Delays in prophase induced by adenosine 2-deoxyriboside and their relation with DNA synthesis.

The rate of DNA synthesis in the course of the division cycle in root meristem ofAllium cepa growing under constant temperature and aeration conditions has been studied by means of treatment with AdR, as a specific inhibitor of the synthesis, as well as by the incorporation of tritiated thymidine. The one-hour treatment with AdR or tritiated thymidine was given at various hours in the course of the interphase of a synchronous population of binucleate cells induced by caffeine. In the case of AdR, sensitivity to the inhibition of DNA synthesis was studied by recording the delays produced by the treatment in the appearance of biprophases and bitelophases. The selection by the use of caffeine, of spontaneously synchronous populations of cells going through the telophase and becoming binucleate and the detection of the first biprophases in the subsequent mitosis provide a highly synchronized system with which to study the incorporation of tritiated thymidine during the interphase. The curves representing sensitivity to the inhibition of DNA synthesis by AdR and the rate of tritiated thymidine incorporation coincide, so that we can regard the delays, under our conditions, as proportional to the rate of DNA synthesis at the moment of the AdR treatment. This rate, in the S period, was found to be variable by both methods, being higher in the first and the last thirds of the S period (S1 and S3) and lower in the middle third (S2).

Effect of caffeine on in vivo processing of alkylated bases in proliferating plant cells

DNA damage was induced by either 2 mM ethylmethanesulfonate or 1 Gy of γ‐irradiation in Allium cepa L. root meristems. The percentage of DNA that migrated towards the anode during microelectrophoresis after alkali denaturation (pH∼13.5) of the isolated nuclei (comet assay) reflects the amount of single strand breaks present in them. There was some DNA migration (12.8±2.4%) in untreated roots. This percentage doubled at the end of 1.5 h treatment with the mono‐functional alkylating agent 2 mM ethylmethanesulfonate, and trebled after a single exposure to 1 Gy of γ‐rays. A proportion of the DNA migration caused by these two treatments was reversed (repaired) by a 2 h long period of in vivo recovery. However, when 5 mM caffeine was applied after removal of the alkylating agent, the amount of DNA migrating to the comet tail over the same 2 h period was almost double that at the onset of recovery. In both control and irradiated nuclei, caffeine also increased the initial level of DNA migration in the comet assay, but to a lesser extent. These results indicate that caffeine increases the DNA damage that accumulates during the processing of alkylated bases and, to a lesser extent, of the DNA bases damaged by γ‐irradiation. Thus, the potentiation effect of caffeine on induced chromosomal damage may not just be due to caffeine‐induced cancellation of the G2 checkpoint, but also to a direct effect this methylxantine has on the processing of DNA damage.

HSP90 and checkpoint-dependent lengthening of the G2 phase observed in plant cells under hypoxia and cold

Summary.Proliferating cells of Allium cepa L. roots became adapted to hypoxia (5% oxygen) and cold (10°C) by acquiring new steady-state kinetics of growth. The cell cycle time increased from the 17.6 h in control meristems up to 29.7 and 69.0 h under hypoxia and cold conditions, respectively. Acclimation of the proliferating cells was stress specific. No acclimation took place after 24 h of heat treatment (40°C). Under cold treatment, all cycle phases enlarged uniformly. However, under hypoxia, while the G1 and S cycle phases roughly doubled in their timing, the expected checkpoint-dependent lengthening of G2 did not take place. This failure in lengthening G2 in response to hypoxia correlated with a failure in the overinduction of a single peptide with a molecular mass of about 134 kDa which is among those recognised by an HSP90 antibody. Moreover, the presence of this large peptide of the HSP90 family proved to be a marker for cell proliferation. It was always absent from the contiguous differentiated cells of the root. Lastly, the mitochondrial chaperonin recognized by an HSP60 antibody in these roots not involved in photosynthesis was always higher in the proliferating than in the nonproliferating cells.