Katsuaki Takechi

DjCBC-1, a conserved DEAD box RNA helicase of the RCK/p54/Me31B family, is a component of RNA-protein complexes in planarian stem cells and neurons

The stem cells of planarians, known as neoblasts, can give rise to all cell types in planarians. Neoblasts can be identified by electron microscopy as cells with electron‐dense chromatoid bodies, which are large RNP (ribonucleoprotein) complexes, in their cytoplasm. However, the components and function of chromatoid bodies are still relatively unknown. Here we identified a DEAD box RNA helicase gene of the RCK/p54/Me31B family from a planarian EST database and showed the localization of its product in chromatoid bodies by immunoelectron microscopy. We named this gene Djcbc‐1 (Dugesia japonica chromatoid body component 1). Djcbc‐1 was also strongly expressed in the brain and in the germline stem cells of sexualized planarians. We observed chromatoid body‐like electron‐dense bodies in brain neurons, where DjCBC‐1 was also expressed. These observations suggest that common molecular components of RNP complexes may be involved in the regulation of somatic and germline stem cells, and neurons in planarians. Departmental Dynamics 236:3436–3450, 2007.

Rapid accumulation of nucleostemin in nucleolus during newt regeneration.

In newt regeneration, differentiated cells can revert to stem cell–like cells in which the proliferative ability and multipotentiality are restored after dedifferentiation. However, the molecular events that occur during the dedifferentiation still remain obscure. Nucleostemin has been identified in mammals as a nucleolar protein specific to stem cells and cancer cells. In this study, a newt nucleostemin homologue was cloned and its regulation was analyzed. During lens regeneration, the expression of nucleostemin was activated and nucleostemin rapidly accumulated in the nucleoli of dedifferentiating pigmented epithelial cells 2 days before cell cycle reentry. During limb regeneration, nucleostemin also accumulated in the nucleoli of degenerating multinucleate muscle fibers before blastema formation. These findings suggest that nucleostemin plays a role in the dedifferentiation of newt cells and can provide crucial clues for addressing the molecular events at early steps of cellular dedifferentiation in newts. Developmental Dynamics 236:941–950, 2007.

Clathrin-mediated endocytic signals are required for the regeneration of, as well as homeostasis in, the planarian CNS

Planarians have a well-organized central nervous system (CNS), including a brain, and can regenerate the CNS from almost any portion of the body using pluripotent stem cells. In this study, to identify genes required for CNS regeneration, genes expressed in the regenerating CNS were systematically cloned and subjected to functional analysis. RNA interference (RNAi) of the planarian clathrin heavy chain (DjCHC) gene prevented CNS regeneration in the intermediate stage of regeneration prior to neural circuit formation. To analyze DjCHC gene function at the cellular level, we developed a functional analysis method using primary cultures of planarian neurons purified by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) after RNAi treatment. Using this method, we showed that the DjCHC gene was not essential for neural differentiation, but was required for neurite extension and maintenance, and that DjCHC-RNAi-treated neurons entered a TUNEL-positive apoptotic state. DjCHC-RNAi-treated uncut planarians showed brain atrophy, and the DjCHC-RNAi planarian phenotype was mimicked by RNAi-treated planarians of the mu-2 (μ2) gene, which is involved in endocytosis, but not the mu-1 (μ1) gene, which is involved in exocytosis. Thus, clathrin-mediated endocytic signals may be required for not only maintenance of neurons after synaptic formation, but also axonal extension at the early stage of neural differentiation.

Isolation of Ef silicatein and Ef lectin as Molecular Markers for Sclerocytes and Cells Involved in Innate Immunity in the Freshwater Sponge Ephydatia fluviatilis

Abstract Sponges (phylum Porifera) have remarkable regenerative and reconstitutive abilities and represent evolutionarily the oldest metazoans. To investigate sponge stem cell differentiation, we have focused on the asexual reproductive system in the freshwater sponge Ephydatia fluviatilis. During germination, thousands of stem cells proliferate and differentiate to form a fully functional sponge. As an initial step of our investigation of stem cell (archeocyte) differentiation, we isolated molecular markers for two differentiated cell types: spicule-making sclerocyte cells, and cells involved in innate immunity. Sclerocyte lineage-specific Ef silicatein shares 45% to 62% identity with other sponge silicateins. As in situ hybridization of Ef silicatein specifically detects archeocytes possibly committed to sclerocytes, as well as sclerocytes with an immature or mature spicule, therefore covering all the developmental stages, we conclude that Ef silicatein is a suitable sclerocyte lineage marker. Ef lectin, a marker for the cell type involved in innate immunity, shares 59% to 65% identity with the marine sponge Suberites domuncula galactose-binding protein (Sd GBP) and horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus tachylectin1/lectinL6. Since Sd GBP and tachylectin1 are known to bind to bacterial lipopolysaccharides and inhibit the growth of bacteria, Ef lectin may have a similar function and be expressed in a specialized type of cell involved in defense against invading bacteria. Ef lectin mRNA and protein are not expressed in early stages of development, but are detected in late stages. Therefore, Ef lectin may be specifically expressed in differentiating and/or differentiated cells. We suggest Ef lectin as a marker for cells that assume innate immunity in freshwater sponges.

Moss Chloroplasts Are Surrounded by a Peptidoglycan Wall Containing D-Amino Acids

A peptidoglycan wall surrounding each plastid in the moss Physcomitrella patens was visualized using metabolic labeling with a d-Ala-d-Ala dipeptide probe and click chemistry. It is believed that the plastids in green plants lost peptidoglycan (i.e., a bacterial cell wall-containing d-amino acids) during their evolution from an endosymbiotic cyanobacterium. Although wall-like structures could not be detected in the plastids of green plants, the moss Physcomitrella patens has the genes required to generate peptidoglycan (Mur genes), and knocking out these genes causes defects in chloroplast division. Here, we generated P. patens knockout lines (∆Pp-ddl) for a homolog of the bacterial peptidoglycan-synthetic gene encoding d-Ala:d-Ala ligase. ∆Pp-ddl had a macrochloroplast phenotype, similar to other Mur knockout lines. The addition of d-Ala-d-Ala (DA-DA) to the medium suppressed the appearance of giant chloroplasts in ∆Pp-ddl, but the addition of l-Ala-l-Ala (LA-LA), DA-LA, LA-DA, or d-Ala did not. Recently, a metabolic method for labeling bacterial peptidoglycan was established using ethynyl-DA-DA (EDA-DA) and click chemistry to attach an azide-modified fluorophore to the ethynyl group. The ∆Pp-ddl line complemented with EDA-DA showed that moss chloroplasts are completely surrounded by peptidoglycan. Our findings strongly suggest that the moss plastids have a peptidoglycan wall containing d-amino acids. By contrast, no plastid phenotypes were observed in the T-DNA tagged ddl mutant lines of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Loss of the Plastid Envelope Protein AtLrgB Causes Spontaneous Chlorotic Cell Death in Arabidopsis thaliana

To identify nuclear genes involved in plastid function, we analyzed Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with albino, pale green or variegated leaves using the Activator/Dissociation (Ac/Ds) transposon tagging system. In this study, we focused on mutants with a Ds insertion in the gene At1g32080 (AtLrgB), which encodes a homolog of the bacterial membrane protein LrgB. Although the detailed function of bacterial LrgB remains unclear, it is speculated that LrgB functions against cell death and lysis in cooperation with LrgA. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and promoter-GUS (β-glucuronidase) analyses showed that AtLrgB is expressed in leaves, stems and flowers, but not in roots. Moreover, its expression in leaves continued until senescence. We used three Ac/Ds-tagged mutants (atlrgB) that showed the same phenotypes. During the continuous observation of seedlings under short-day conditions, we found that the cotyledons and true leaves of the mutant plants during early development showed immediate greening, similar to wild-type plants, after which some parts showed a chlorotic phenotype. In contrast, true leaves at the late stage of plant development did not show degreening. When the atlrgB mutant was grown under continuous light, its chlorotic phenotype was suppressed. Transformation with normal AtLrgB restored these phenotypes. Trypan blue staining and electron microscopic observations indicated that chlorotic cell death occurred in the white sectors. The phenotypes of atlrgB resembled those in lesion mimic mutants, suggesting that AtLrgB functions against cell death, similar to the bacterial Lrg system.

The peptidoglycan biosynthesis genes, MurA and MraY, are related to chloroplast division in the moss Physcomitrella patens.

In the moss Physcomitrella patens, 10 Mur genes involved in peptidoglycan biosynthesis were found, and the MurE and Pbp genes are related to plastid division. Although the MraY and MurG genes were missing in our previous expressed sequence tag screening, they were discovered in the P. patens genome in this study, indicating that P. patens has a full set of genes capable of synthesizing peptidoglycan. In addition, a second MurA gene (PpMurA2) was found. Whereas Northern analyses indicated that PpMurA1, PpMurG and PpMraY were expressed, transcripts of PpMurA2 were detected only when RT-PCR was employed. Whereas GFP fusion proteins with either PpMurA1 or PpMraY were detected in chloroplasts, the PpMurA2 fusion proteins were located in the cytoplasm. Protonema cells in the wild-type plants had an average of 46 chloroplasts. PpMurA1 gene-disrupted lines had <10 chloroplasts, whereas approximately 30 chloroplasts existed in the PpMurA2 knockout lines. The PpMurA1/A2 double-knockout lines had only a few macrochloroplasts, suggesting a redundant function for these two genes. Disruption of the PpMraY gene in P. patens resulted in the appearance of macrochloroplasts. Anabaena MraY fused to the N-terminal region of PpMraY and A. thaliana MraY could complement the macrochloroplast phenotype in the PpMraY knockout line. Electron microscopic observations showed no obvious differences in the shape or stacking of thylakoid membranes between all knockout transformants and wild-type plants, suggesting that these Mur genes are related only to plastid division in moss.

Ethylene regulation of sexual reproduction in the marine red alga Pyropia yezoensis (Rhodophyta)

Plant growth regulators (PGRs) play a pivotal role in vascular plants, regulating growth, development, and stress responses; however, the role of PGRs in algae remains largely unexplored. Here, the role of ethylene, a simple plant growth regulator, was demonstrated in sexual reproduction of the marine red alga Pyropia yezoensis. Application of the ethylene precursor 1-aminocylopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) promoted the formation of spermatia and zygotospores in the gametophytes as well as ethylene production, whereas the growth rate was repressed in comparison to gametophytes not treated with ACC. In addition, gametophytes treated with ACC and mature gametophytes showed enhanced tolerance to oxidative stress. Gene expression profiles revealed upregulation of genes involved in cell division and stress response in gametophytes treated with ACC and in mature gametophytes. These results indicate that ethylene plays an important role in the regulation of gamete formation and protection against stress-induced damage during the sexual reproductive stage. Considered together, these findings demonstrate that ethylene is involved in regulating the switching from a vegetative to a sexual reproductive phase in P. yezoensis.

ANGUSTIFOLIA, a plant homolog of CtBP/BARS, functions outside the nucleus

CtBP/BARS is a unique protein family in having quite diversified cellular functions, intercellular localizations, and developmental roles. ANGUSTIFOLIA (AN) is the sole homolog of CtBP/BARS from Arabidopsis thaliana, although it has plant AN-specific motifs and a long C-terminus. Previous studies suggested that AN would function in the nucleus as a transcriptional co-repressor, as CtBPs function in animals; however, precise verification has been lacking. In this paper, we isolated a homologous gene (MAN) of AN from liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha. Transformation of the Arabidopsis an-1 mutant with 35S-driven MAN completely complemented the an-1 phenotype, although it lacks the putative nuclear localization signal (NLS) that exists in AN proteins isolated from other plant species. We constructed several plasmids for expressing modified ANs with amino acid substitutions in known motifs. The results clearly indicated that modified AN with mutations in the putative NLS-like domain could complement the an-1 phenotype. Therefore, we re-examined localization of AN using several techniques. Our results demonstrated that AN localizes on punctuate structures around the Golgi, partially overlapping with a trans-Golgi network resident, which highlighted an unexpected link between leaf development and membrane trafficking. We should reconsider the roles and evolutionary traits of AN based on these findings.

Treatment with antibiotics that interfere with peptidoglycan biosynthesis inhibits chloroplast division in the Desmid Closterium

Charophytes is a green algal group closely related to land plants. We investigated the effects of antibiotics that interfere with peptidoglycan biosynthesis on chloroplast division in the desmid Closterium peracerosum–strigosum–littorale complex. To detect cells just after division, we used colchicine, which inhibits Closterium cell elongation after division. Although normal Closterium cells had two chloroplasts before and after cell division, cells treated with ampicillin, D-cycloserine, or fosfomycin had only one chloroplast after cell division, suggesting that the cells divided without chloroplast division. The antibiotics bacitracin and vancomycin showed no obvious effect. Electron microscopic observation showed that irregular-shaped chloroplasts existed in ampicillin-treated Closterium cells. Because antibiotic treatments resulted in the appearance of long cells with irregular chloroplasts and cell death, we counted cell types in the culture. The results suggested that cells with one chloroplast appeared first and then a huge chloroplast was generated that inhibited cell division, causing elongation followed by cell death.