Repository logo
 
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Polarity in ciliate models: from cilia to cell architecture

Use this identifier to reference this record.

Advisor(s)

Abstract(s)

Tetrahymena and Paramecium are highly differentiated unicellular organisms with elaborated cortical patterns showing a regular arrangement of hundreds to thousands of basal bodies in longitudinal rows that extend from the anterior to the posterior region of the cell. Thus both ciliates exhibit a permanent anteroposterior axis and left-right asymmetry. This cell polarity is reflected in the direction of the structures nucleated around each basal body such as the ciliary rootlets. Studies in these ciliates showed that basal bodies assemble two types of cilia, the cortical cilia and the cilia of the oral apparatus, a complex structure specialized in food capture. These two cilia types display structural differences at their tip domain. Basal bodies possessing distinct compositions creating specialized landmarks are also present. Cilia might be expected to express and transmit polarities throughout signaling pathways given their recognized role in signal transduction. This review will focus on how local polarities in basal bodies/cilia are regulated and transmitted through cell division in order to maintain the global polarity and shape of these cells and locally constrain the interpretation of signals by different cilia. We will also discuss ciliates as excellent biological models to study development and morphogenetic mechanisms and their relationship with cilia diversity and function in metazoans.

Description

FCT_PEst-OE/QUI/UI0612/2013. FCT_PEst-UID/EEA/00066/2013. IPL/2017/CILIOPAT/ESTeSL. IPL/2019/MOONOFCILI/ESTeSL.

Keywords

Biology Cell polarity Cell patterning Ciliates cortex Signaling Cilia Basal bodies AFM PEst-OE/QUI/UI0612/2013 PEst-UID/EEA/00066/2013 IPL/2017/CILIOPAT/ESTeSL IPL/2019/MOONOFCILI/ESTeSL

Citation

Soares H, Carmona B, Nolasco S, Melo LV. Polarity in ciliate models: from cilia to cell architecture. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2019;7:240.

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Journal Issue

Publisher

Frontiers Media

Collections

Altmetrics