Signalling in a small amoeba population

A starved cell population of ~100 Dictyostelium cells develops on agar to form a slime mold and eventually a fruiting body (latter not shown). Fluorescence microscopy is used to visualize a ubiquitously expressed fusion protein (upper panel). The fusion consists of a CFP and a YFP connected by a linker peptide that can bind cAMP, the molecule that the amoebae use to communicate. When cAMP is binds to the peptide, the color of the fluorescence changes (lower panel). The movie shows how the cells aggregate via chemotaxis.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• biophysics
• chemotaxis
• dictyostelium
• FRET
• microscopy