Septin of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: studies focused on its expression and function

Author(s)

Heloísa Ciol

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC/BT)
• Defense date: 2017-05-03

Examining board members

Ana Paula Ulian de Araujo; Maria Celia Bertolini; Júlio César Borges; Richard Charles Garratt; Jeferson Gross

• Advisor: Ana Paula Ulian de Araujo

Abstract

Septins belong to a family of proteins that bind guanine nucleotide and have been found in many eukaryotes, but never in plants. These proteins have been described in cytokinesis process, cell structure and exocytosis, but little is known about their way of action. Besides, septins are capable of polymerize in high organized heterofilaments when interacting with other septins, but references and functional studies of septins homofilaments remain controversial. This work aimed to characterize the function of the unique septin from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a model eukaryote organism that long diverged from a common ancestor to plants and Metazoans and that has a single septin. For that, yeast two-hybrid assays were conducted in search of possible partner proteins to C.reinhardtii, septin (CrSept); also, gene expression analyses by qPCR of different points of the cell cycle helped characterize the expression profile of the CrSept gene and gene silencing by artificial micro-RNA (amiRNA) and immunolocalization by confocal microscopy were used to enrich functional and localization studies. The yeast two-hybrid assays returned two possible partner proteins to CrSept - S-Adenosyl-Homocysteine-Hydrolase (CrSAHH) e Subtilase-like-Serino-Protease (sporangin) – both related to the flagella structure. The interaction among CrSept and CrSAHH could not be validated in vitro by pulldown or crosslink assays, however, the in situ immunostaining showed CrSept can mostly be found in punctual concentrated spots close to the base of the flagella during G0 and G1 phases of the cell cycle, which differs from the profile observed during phases S and M, where the protein can be observed as punctual spots through the whole cell. These results strengths CrSept role on the flagellar structure and do not exclude the possibility of an in vivo interaction between CrSept and CrSAHH. Gene expression analyses showed that septin is mostly expressed during the light part of the cycle, which is also observed at the protein quantitative analysis by western blot. Gene silencing experiments showed a possible phenotype in clones expressing amiRNA against CrSept, which was not observed on control group. Together, these results suggest CrSept has a structural role in C. reinhardtii and might work as a scaffold to other proteins during cell growth stage. Besides, punctual staining observed during mitosis suggests CrSept might help maintaining cell structure until cell division is completed. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/21259-0 - Septin of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: studies focusing its expression and function
• Grantee: Heloisa Ciol
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)