Isozymes of ribonuclease and the changes in their relative levels during development in the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum

Unusual Occurrence of Two Bona-Fide CCA-Adding Enzymes in Dictyostelium discoideum

Dictyostelium discoideum, the model organism for the evolutionary supergroup of Amoebozoa, is a social amoeba that, upon starvation, undergoes transition from a unicellular to a multicellular organism. In its genome, we identified two genes encoding for tRNA nucleotidyltransferases. Such pairs of tRNA nucleotidyltransferases usually represent collaborating partial activities catalyzing CC- and A-addition to the tRNA 3'-end, respectively. In D. discoideum, however, both enzymes exhibit identical activities, representing bona-fide CCA-adding enzymes. Detailed characterization of the corresponding activities revealed that both enzymes seem to be essential and are regulated inversely during different developmental stages of D. discoideum. Intriguingly, this is the first description of two functionally equivalent CCA-adding enzymes using the same set of tRNAs and showing a similar distribution within the cell. This situation seems to be a common feature in Dictyostelia, as other members of this phylum carry similar pairs of tRNA nucleotidyltransferase genes in their genome.

Determination of the molecular weights of ribonuclease isozymes in a cell-free crude extract of Dictyostelium discoideum, by activity-staining of gels after SDS-PAGE

1. In a previous report we described three isozymes of intracellular ribonuclease in Dictyostelium discoideum, which were found in vegetative cells. Here we report that the molecular weights of the three isozymes from vegetative cells. 2. They are 14.3 kDa, 60 kDa and 80 kDa, as determined by activity-staining of gels after SDS-PAGE. 3. For renaturation of ribonucleolytic activity from D. discoideum cells after SDS-PAGE, fibrinogen-containing gels were used and gels were washed in aqueous isopropanol to remove detergent. Results of studies by this method suggest that each of these isozymes is composed of only a single polypeptide. 4. The effect of the buffer system on this technique is discussed.