Developmental accumulation of inorganic polyphosphate affects germination and energetic metabolism in Dictyostelium discoideum.

Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) is composed of linear chains of phosphate groups linked by high-energy phosphoanhydride bonds. However, this simple, ubiquitous molecule remains poorly understood. The use of nonstandardized analytical methods has contributed to this lack of clarity.

Analysis of Dictyostelium discoideum inositol pyrophosphate metabolism by gel electrophoresis.

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum was instrumental in the discovery and early characterization of inositol pyrophosphates, a class of molecules possessing highly-energetic pyrophosphate bonds. Inositol pyrophosphates regulate diverse biological processes and are attracting attention due to their ability to control energy metabolism and insulin signalling. However, inositol pyrophosphate research has been hampered by the lack of simple experimental procedures to study them.