Optical approaches to the study of foraminiferan motility

An ectobiont-bearing foraminiferan, Bolivina pacifica, that inhabits microxic pore waters: cell-biological and paleoceanographic insights

The presence of tests (shells) in foraminifera could be taken as an indicator that this protist taxon is unlikely to possess ectosymbionts. Here, however, we describe an association between Bolivina pacifica, a foraminiferan with a calcareous test, and a rod-shaped microbe (bacterium or archaeon) that is directly associated with the pores of the foraminiferan's test. In addition to these putative ectosymbionts, B. pacifica has previously undescribed cytoplasmic plasma membrane invaginations (PMIs). These adaptations (i.e. PMIs, ectobionts), along with the clustering of mitochondria under the pores and at the cell periphery, suggest active exchange between the host and ectobiont. The B. pacifica specimens examined were collected from sediments overlain by oxygen-depleted bottom waters (0.7 μM) of the Santa Barbara Basin (California, USA). An ultrastructural comparison between B. pacifica from the Santa Barbara Basin and a congener (Bolivina cf. B. lanceolata) collected from well-oxygenated sediments (Florida Keys) suggests that PMIs, ectobionts and peripherally distributed mitochondria are all factors that promote inhabitation of microxic environments by B. pacifica. The calcitic δ(13)C signatures of B. pacifica and of a co-occurring congener (B. argentea) that lacks ectobionts differ by > 1.5‰, raising the possibility that the presence of ectobionts can affect incorporation of paleoceanographic proxies.

Actin-dependent, retrograde motility of surface-attached beads and aggregating pigment granules in dissociated teleost retinal pigment epithelial cells

Teleost retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells contain pigment granules within apical projections which undergo actin-dependent, bi-directional motility. Dissociated RPE cells in culture attach to the substrate and extend apical projections in a radial array from the central cell body. Pigment granules within projections can be triggered to aggregate or disperse by the presence or absence of 1 mM cAMP. Aminated, fluorescent latex beads attached to the dorsal surface of apical projections and moved in the retrograde direction, towards the cell body. Bead rates on RPE cells with aggregating or fully aggregated pigment granules were 2.2 +/- 0.5 and 2.6 +/- 0.2 microm/min (mean +/- SEM), respectively, similar to rates of aggregating (retrograde) pigment granule movement (2.0 +/- 0.4 microm/min). Bead rates were slightly slower on cells with fully dispersed or dispersing pigment granules (1.5 +/- 0.1 and 1.5 +/- 0.4 microm/min). Movements of surface-attached beads and aggregating pigment granules were closely correlated in the distal portions of apical projections, but were more independent of each other in proximal regions of the projections. The actin disrupting drug, cytochalasin D (CD), reversibly halted retrograde bead movements, suggesting that motility of surface-attached particles is actin-dependent. In contrast, the microtubule depolymerizing drug, nocodazole, had no effect on retrograde bead motility. The similar characteristics and actin-dependence of retrograde bead movements and aggregating pigment granules suggest a correlation between these two processes.

Organelles are transported on sliding microtubules in Reticulomyxa

Organelles and plasma membrane domains appear to be transported along Reticulomyxa's microtubule cytoskeleton. Previously we demonstrated that organelle and cell surface transport share the same enzymatic properties and suggested that both are powered by the same cytoplasmic dynein. Motility analysis in Reticulomyxa is complicated by the fact that the microtubules also are motile and appear to "slide" bidirectionally throughout the network. We have utilized laser ablation to address this frame-of-reference problem as to how each transport component (microtubule sliding vs. organelle translocations) contributes to reactivated bidirectional translocation of organelles along the microtubule cytoskeleton. Laser ablation was used to cut microtubule bundles from lysed networks into 4-15-microm segments. After examining these reactivated cut fragments, it appears that the majority of organelles did not move relative to microtubule fragments, but remained attached to microtubules and moved as the microtubules slid. Microtubule sliding stops after 1-2 min and cannot be reactivated even when perfused with fresh ATP. Furthermore, once sliding stops, organelle transport also stops. Our findings indicate that the majority of Reticulomyxa pseudopodial organelles do not move along the surface of the microtubules, rather it is the sliding of the microtubules to which they are attached that moves them.

Reactivation of cell surface transport in Reticulomyxa

Granuloreticulosean protists transport particles (e.g., bacteria, algae, and sand grains) along the outer surfaces of their pseudopodia. This cell surface transport plays a vital role in feeding, reproduction, shell construction, and locomotion and can be visualized by the movements of extracellularly adherent polystyrene microspheres (i.e., latex beads). Our videomicroscopic analyses of transport associated with the pseudopodia of Reticulomyxa filosa revealed two distinct types of both intracellular and cell surface transport: (1) saltatory, bidirectional transport of individual or clustered organelles and/or surface-attached particles, and (2) continuous, unidirectional bulk or "resolute" motion of aggregated organelles and/or surface-bound particles. Organelles and surface-attached polystyrene microspheres remained firmly attached to the microtubule cytoskeletons of detergent-extracted pseudopodia. Both saltatory and resolute organelle and surface transport reactivated upon the addition of 0.01-1.0 mM ATP. At 1 mM ATP, the velocities of reactivated saltatory transport were indistinguishable from those observed in vivo. The reactivated transport was microtubule-dependent and was not inhibited by incubation with Ca(2+)-gelsolin under conditions that abolish rhodamine-phalloidin detection of actin filaments. These findings provide further support that both intracellular organelle and membrane surface transport are mediated by a common mechanism, and establish Reticulomyxa as a unique model system to further study the mechanochemistry of cell surface transport in vitro.

In vivo microtubule dynamics during experimentally induced conversions between tubulin assembly states in Allogromia laticollaris

A distinctive property of foraminiferan tubulin is that, in addition to microtubules (MTs), it exists in an alternate assembly state, helical filaments. Here, we have examined in vivo MT dynamics during experimentally induced conversions between these two assembly states in the reticulopods of the marine foraminiferan Allogromia laticollaris. Exposure to high extracellular concentrations of Mg2+ (165 mM) resulted in a complete conversion of MTs into helical filaments. However, Mg2+ treatment also induced a retrograde movement of organelles and cytoplasm, and it was necessary to inhibit this response in order to assess the effects of assembly state changes on individual MTs. This was accomplished by simultaneous treatment with high extracellular Mg2+ and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). The resulting loss in MTs was detected by video enhanced DIC (VEC-DIC) microscopy as either an endwise MT shortening (at an average rate of 474 microns/min) or transformation into one or more irregularly shaped fibrils, which we termed residual fibrils. Correlative immunofluorescence and video microscopy showed residual fibrils to be composed of helical filaments. Removal of extracellular Mg2+/DNP initiated a reversal in assembly state, from helical filaments into MTs, which was completed within 5 min. VEC-DIC microscopy showed that MTs reformed by an endwise lengthening at an average rate of 216 microns/min. These results suggest that conversion between alternate tubulin assembly states provides a more rapid means to build and dismantle MTs than conventional subunit-driven pathways.

Microdensitometer-computer correlation analysis of two distinct, spatially segregated classes of microtubule bridges in Allogromia pseudopodia

Previous video-light microscopic studies have shown that the microtubule bundles in the pseudopodia of foraminiferan protists display several types of movements in vivo, including active bending, zipping/splaying, and axial translocations. To gain insight into the types and arrangement of microtubule-associated proteins (e.g., mechanoenzymes, crosslinkers) in such a highly dynamic system, we employed microdensitometric-computer correlation methods to analyze, quantitatively, intermicrotubule bridges in thin-section electron micrographs of Allogromia laticollaris and Allogromia sp. (strain NF). Two distinct bridges occupying mutually exclusive zones between adjacent microtubules were identified. Type I bridges displayed a single axial repeat (34 nm for A. laticollaris and 28 nm for Allogromia sp.) and Type II bridges showed a typical 12-dimer helical superlattice pattern. In A. laticollaris, the two types of bridges were morphologically distinct: Type I bridges were aligned perpendicular to the microtubule wall and were 23-nm wide with an electron-lucent core; Type II bridges were irregular filaments projecting from the microtubules at various angles. When compared with the known distribution of microtubule-associated proteins in other systems, our findings indicate that, in vivo, Allogromia pseudopodial microtubules are decorated with MAP2-like bridges interrupted by discrete clusters of a dynein-like component.

Real-time observations of microtubule dynamic instability in living cells

Individual microtubule dynamics were observed in real time in primary cultures of newt lung epithelium using video-enhanced differential interference contrast microscopy and digital image processing. The linear filaments observed in cells corresponded to microtubules based on three criteria: (a) small particles translocated along them; (b) the majority of them disappeared after incubation in nocodazole; (c) and the distribution observed by differential interference contrast correlated with anti-tubulin immunofluorescence staining of the same cell. Microtubules were most clearly observed at the leading edge of cells located at the periphery of the epithelial sheet. Microtubules exhibited dynamic instability behavior: individual microtubules existed in persistent phases of elongation or rapid shortening. Microtubules elongated at a velocity of 7.2 micron/min +/- 0.3 SEM (n = 42) and rapidly shortened at a velocity of 17.3 micron/min +/- 0.7 SEM (n = 35). The transitions between elongation and rapid shortening occurred abruptly and stochastically with a transition frequency of 0.014 s-1 for catastrophe and 0.044 s-1 for rescue. Approximately 70% of the rapidly shortening microtubules were rescued and resumed elongation within the 35 x 35 micron microscopic field. A portion of the microtubule population appeared differentially stable and did not display any measurable elongation or shortening during 10-15-min observations.