Phototactic activity inChlamydomonas'non-phototactic' mutants deficient in Ca2+-dependent control of flagellar dominance or in inner-arm dynein

A conserved CaM- and radial spoke associated complex mediates regulation of flagellar dynein activity

For virtually all cilia and eukaryotic flagella, the second messengers calcium and cyclic adenosine monophosphate are implicated in modulating dynein- driven microtubule sliding to regulate beating. Calmodulin (CaM) localizes to the axoneme and is a key calcium sensor involved in regulating motility. Using immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we identify members of a CaM-containing complex that are involved in regulating dynein activity. This complex includes flagellar-associated protein 91 (FAP91), which shares considerable sequence similarity to AAT-1, a protein originally identified in testis as an A-kinase anchor protein (AKAP)- binding protein. FAP91 directly interacts with radial spoke protein 3 (an AKAP), which is located at the base of the spoke. In a microtubule sliding assay, the addition of antibodies generated against FAP91 to mutant axonemes with reduced dynein activity restores dynein activity to wild-type levels. These combined results indicate that the CaM- and spoke-associated complex mediates regulatory signals between the radial spokes and dynein arms.

Keeping an eye on I1: I1 dynein as a model for flagellar dynein assembly and regulation

Among the major challenges in understanding ciliary and flagellar motility is to determine how the dynein motors are assembled and localized and how dynein-driven outer doublet microtubule sliding is controlled. Diverse studies, particularly in Chlamydomonas, have determined that the inner arm dynein I1 is targeted to a unique structural position and is critical for regulating the microtubule sliding required for normal ciliary/flagellar bending. As described in this review, I1 dynein offers additional opportunities to determine the principles of assembly and targeting of dyneins to cellular locations and for studying the mechanisms that regulate dynein activity and control of motility by phosphorylation.

Linear systems analysis of the ciliary steering behavior associated with negative-phototaxis inChlamydomonas reinhardtii

In response to light stimulation Chlamydomonas reinhardtii changes the beating frequency, beating pattern, and beating synchrony of the trans and cis cilia to steer the freely-swimming cell relative to light sources. To understand the cell steering behavior the impulse responses of the beating frequency and stroke velocity of each cilium have been obtained with high temporal resolution on cells held with a micropipette. Interestingly the response of each cilium is quite different. The trans cilium responds with less delay than the cis cilium for both beating frequency and stroke velocity. For light stimulation at 2 Hz, the critical cell-rotation frequency, both responses of the trans and cis cilia are about 180 degrees out of phase. The trans-cilium beating frequency response peaks at a stimulus frequency of 5-6 Hz, higher than the cis at 1-2 Hz. The stroke velocities of the trans and cis cilia have the same stimulus-frequency response (2 Hz), but the trans cilium has a shorter delay than the cis. The times to maximum response are much shorter than the time for a rotation of the cell. The use of two different approaches that enable the trans cilium to respond ahead of the cis for both the beating frequency and stroke velocity responses suggests the importance of both responses to phototaxis. Internal cell processing responsible for the time course of the responses is proposed.