Fm. Van Dolah et Ta. Leighfield, Diel phasing of the cell-cycle in the Florida red tide dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium breve, J PHYCOLOGY, 35(6), 1999, pp. 1404-1411
The diel cycle is a key regulator of the cell-cycle in many dinoflagellates
, but the mechanisms by which the diel cycle entrains the cell-cycle remain
poorly understood. In this study, we describe diel phasing of the cell-cyc
le in the Florida red tide dinoflagellate Gymnodinium breve Davis, determin
e the diel cue which serves to entrain the cell-cycle, and provide evidence
for the presence of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK), a cell-cycle regulator
which may be responsive to this cue. Four laboratory isolates from the West
Coast of Florida were compared. When gown on a 16:8 h LD cycle, all isolat
es displayed phased cell division, with the S-phase beginning 6-8 h into th
e light phase, and mitosis following 12-14 h later, as determined by flow c
ytometry, A naturally occurring bloom of G. breve, studied over one diel cy
cle, displayed diel cell-cycle phasing similar to that in the laboratory cu
ltures, with the S-phase beginning during daylight and the peak of mitosis
occurring approximately 4 h after sunset. In the laboratory cultures, the d
ark/light "dawn" transition was found to provide the diel cue which serves
to entrain the G, breve cell-cycle, whereas the light/ dark "dusk" transiti
on did not appear to be involved. Evidence for the presence of CDK in G. br
eve was obtained using two approaches: (1) identification of a 34-kDa prote
in, immunoreactive to an antibody against a conserved amino acid sequence (
alpha-PSTAIR) unique to the CDK protein family and (2) inhibition of the ce
ll-cycle by olomoucine, a selective CDK inhibitor. Together, these results
provide the basis from which one can begin addressing mechanisms by which t
he diel cycle regulates the cell-cycle in G. breve.