Dictyostelium is a powerful model system in which to study developmental decision making, as illustrated by two new papers that report that DimB, a bZIP transcription factor, directly regulates the responses of Dictyostelium amoebae to the differentiation factor DIF-1. On starvation, Dictyostelium amoebae aggregate and form a migrating slug. During this process, they differentiate into prestalk (pst) or prespore cells. pstA cells occupy the tip of the slug, while pstO cells lie behind the tip and prespore cells occupy the rear four-fifths. DIF-1, which is made by prespore cells, is required for the differentiation of pstO cells, but its signal transduction pathway is largely unknown. Now, two groups report that DimB, a bZIP transcription factor, directly regulates DIF-1 responses in Dictyostelium. Zhukovskaya et al. identified DimB by purifying molecules that interact with two promoter elements in ecmA, a gene expressed in prestalk cells (see p. 439). They show that DimB establishes a gradient of ecmA expression in the slug tip by repressing its expression in cells at the rear and centre of the prestalk zone, and suggest that competition between DimB and an unknown activator controls ecmA expression. They also show that DimB accumulates in the nucleus when cells are exposed to DIF-1 and becomes associated with the ecmA promoter. Huang et al. used bioinformatics to identify DimB (see p. 449). Their search of the Dictyostelium genome for factors that could heterodimerize with DimA – another bZIP transcription factor that regulates Dictyostelium responses to DIF-1 – identified DimB. They show that DimB interacts with DimA in vitro and that DIF-1 stimulation of cells causes the rapid nuclear accumulation of both DimA and DimB. Together, these papers provide new insights into how DIF-1 controls Dictyosteliumdifferentiation and draw parallels with mammalian systems, where interactions between transcription factors increase their regulatory potential.
DimB light illuminates Dicty development
DimB light illuminates Dicty development. Development 1 February 2006; 133 (3): e304. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
Call for papers: Uncovering Developmental Diversity
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: Uncovering Developmental Diversity. This issue will be coordinated by our academic Editor Cassandra Extavour (Harvard University, USA) alongside two Guest Editors: Liam Dolan (Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austria) and Karen Sears (University of California Los Angeles, USA).
Choose Development in 2024
In this Editorial, Development Editor-in-Chief James Briscoe and Executive Editor Katherine Brown explain how you support your community by publishing in Development and how the journal champions serious science, community connections and progressive publishing.
Journal Meeting: From Stem Cells to Human Development
Register now for the 2024 Development Journal Meeting From Stem Cells to Human Development. Early-bird registration deadline: 3 May. Abstract submission deadline: 21 June.
Pluripotency of a founding field: rebranding developmental biology
This collaborative Perspective, the result of a workshop held in 2023, proposes a set of community actions to increase the visibility of the developmental biology field. The authors make recommendations for new funding streams, frameworks for collaborations and mechanisms by which members of the community can promote themselves and their research.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.