Rights statement: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
Final published version, 3.45 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
<mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 15/08/2015 |
---|---|
<mark>Journal</mark> | Journal of Cell Science |
Issue number | 16 |
Volume | 128 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Pages (from-to) | 3117-3130 |
Publication Status | Published |
Early online date | 6/07/15 |
<mark>Original language</mark> | English |
The cell shape of Trypanosoma brucei is influenced by flagellum-to-cell-body attachment through a specialised structure - the flagellum attachment zone (FAZ). T. brucei exhibits numerous morphological forms during its life cycle and, at each stage, the FAZ length varies. We have analysed FLAM3, a large protein that localises to the FAZ region within the old and new flagellum. Ablation of FLAM3 expression causes a reduction in FAZ length; however, this has remarkably different consequences in the tsetse procyclic form versus the mammalian bloodstream form. In procyclic form cells FLAM3 RNAi results in the transition to an epimastigote-like shape, whereas in bloodstream form cells a severe cytokinesis defect associated with flagellum detachment is observed. Moreover, we demonstrate that the amount of FLAM3 and its localisation is dependent on ClpGM6 expression and vice versa. This evidence demonstrates that FAZ is a key regulator of trypanosome shape, with experimental perturbations being life cycle form dependent. An evolutionary cell biology explanation suggests that these differences are a reflection of the division process, the cytoskeleton and intrinsic structural plasticity of particular life cycle forms.