Temporal Regulation in Dictyostelium development
{'Code': '08090100', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'IOS', 'LongName': 'Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Judith A. Verbeke', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
Dictyostelium has a number of interesting timing characteristics                including:1) the ability to rapidly recapitulate morphogenesis                  after disaggregation, 2) the ability to induce "erasure" and a                  program of dedifferentiation, 3) the ability to identify rate                   limiting steps or timers using conditional experiments, and 4)                  the ability to isolate specific timing mutants that have their                  individual rate limiting components altered. Dr. Alexander has                  recently characterized the mutant, FM-1, which has a specifically               shortened preaggregative period. Conditional experiments                        demonstrate that this  is due to the loss of the first rate                     limiting step.  The cells progress through each subsequent                      developmental stage and form normal fruiting bodies.  The                       mutation was mapped to linkage group II and is recessive to wild                type. FM-1 and its derivatives show the remarkable property of                  rapid phenotypic switching. These strains can switch phenotypes                 at a rate of up to 100. The switch phenotypes include strains                   altered in timing, aggregation and morphogenesis. Dr. Alexander                 proposes to continue the investigations of developmental timing                 and phenotypic switching. He will: 1) phenotypically and                        genetically characterize timing mutants and the interactions of                 the genes, 2) determine whether rapid phenotypic switching can                  result in mutations in many different genes, 3) characterize a                  switching strain that is unique from the FM-1 switching system,                 4) determine whether rapid phenotypic switching has                             characteristics that suggest that a mobile genetic element is the               underlying molecular event, 5) attempt to demonstrate at the                    molecular level that high frequency switching in strain FM-1 and                its derivatives is due to a transposable element. Identification                of this element can lead to its use in transposon tagging for the               generation of mutants and the isolation of the disrupted genes.                 %%%                                                                             Temporal control is a central element of the developmental                      program of all organisms. The cellular slime mold Dictyostelium                 discoideum is a particularly good system for the study of the                   regulation of developmental timing. The timing of the                           morphogenetic stages is exquisitely synchronous and reproducible                between experiments.
{'FirstName': 'Stephen', 'LastName': 'Alexander', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Stephen Alexander', 'EmailAddress': 'alexanderst@missouri.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000312481', 'StartDate': '03/15/1989', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'University of Missouri-Columbia', 'CityName': 'COLUMBIA', 'ZipCode': '652113020', 'PhoneNumber': '5738827560', 'StreetAddress': '121 UNIVERSITY HALL', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Missouri', 'StateCode': 'MO', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '04', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'MO04', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'SZPJL5ZRCLF4', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SYSTEM', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
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[{'Code': '1111', 'Text': 'DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMS CLUSTER'}, {'Code': '9145', 'Text': 'SPECIAL PROGRAMS-RESERVE'}]
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