This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data All Versions of this Article: 18/9/2388    most recent tpc.106.043521v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (9) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Scherer, M. Articles by Kämper, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Scherer, M. Articles by Kämper, J. Agricola Articles by Scherer, M. Articles by Kämper, J.

The Clp1 Protein Is Required for Clamp Formation and Pathogenic Development of Ustilago maydis^[W]

Max-Planck-Institut für Terrestrische Mikrobiologie, Abteilung Organismische Interaktionen, D-35043 Marburg, Germany

² To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail kaemper{at}mpi-marburg.mpg.de; fax 49-6421-178-609.

In the phytopathogenic fungus Ustilago maydis, pathogenic development is controlled by a heterodimer of the two homeodomain proteins bE and bW, encoded by the b-mating-type locus. We have identified a b-dependently induced gene, clampless1 (clp1), that is required for the proliferation of dikaryotic filaments in planta. We show that U. maydis hyphae develop structures functionally equivalent to clamp cells that participate in the distribution of nuclei during cell division. In clp1 mutant strains, dikaryotic filaments penetrate the plant cuticle, but development is stalled before the first mitotic division, and the clamp-like structures are not formed. Although clp1 is immediately activated upon b-induction on the transcriptional level, nuclear-localized Clp1 protein is first observed at the stage of plant penetration prior to the first cell division. Induced expression of clp1 strongly interferes with b-dependent gene regulation and blocks b-dependent filament formation and b-dependent cell cycle arrest. We speculate that the Clp1 protein inhibits the activity of the bE/bW heterodimer to facilitate the cell cycle progression during hyphal growth.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. L. Ekena, B. C. Stanton, J. A. Schiebe-Owens, and C. M. Hull Sexual Development in Cryptococcus neoformans Requires CLP1, a Target of the Homeodomain Transcription Factors Sxi1{alpha} and Sxi2a Eukaryot. Cell, January 1, 2008; 7(1): 49 - 57. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. P. C. De Souza and S. A. Osmani Mitosis, Not Just Open or Closed Eukaryot. Cell, September 1, 2007; 6(9): 1521 - 1527. [Full Text] [PDF]