Dictyostelium possesses highly diverged presenilin/gamma-secretase that regulates growth and cell-fate specification and can accurately process human APP: a system for functional studies of the presenilin/gamma-secretase complex.

Presenilin (PS) is the catalytic moiety of the gamma-secretase complex. PS and other gamma-secretase components are well conserved among metazoa, but their presence and function in more-distant species are not resolved. Because inappropriate gamma-secretase processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in humans is associated with familial Alzheimer's disease, understanding essential elements within each gamma-secretase component is crucial to functional studies.

Oscillatory signaling and network responses during the development of Dictyostelium discoideum.

Periodic biological variations reflect interactions among molecules and cells, or even organisms. The Dictyostelium cAMP oscillatory circuit is a highly robust example. cAMP oscillations in Dictyostelium arise intracellularly by a complex interplay of activating and inhibiting pathways, are transmitted extracellularly, and synchronize an entire local population.

Microarray analysis of Cryphonectria parasitica Galpha- and Gbetagamma-signalling pathways reveals extensive modulation by hypovirus infection.

Using an established spotted cDNA microarray platform, the nature of changes in the transcriptional profiles of 2200 unique genes from the chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica in response to the absence of either the Galpha subunit CPG-1 or the Gbeta subunit CPGB-1 has been explored. It is reported that 216 transcripts were altered in accumulation in the Deltacpg-1 strain and 163 in the Deltacpgb-1 strain, with a considerable overlap (100 genes) that were changed in both cases. Of note, these commonly altered transcripts were changed in the same direction in every instance, thus suggesting a considerable redundancy in pathway control or extensive crosstalk.

An ordered collection of expressed sequences from Cryphonectria parasitica and evidence of genomic microsynteny with Neurospora crassa and Magnaporthe grisea.

Cryphonectria parasitica, the causative agent of chestnut blight, has proven to be a tractable experimental system for studying fungal pathogenesis. Moreover, the development of infectious cDNA clones of C. parasitica hypoviruses, capable of attenuating fungal virulence, has provided the opportunity to examine molecular aspects of fungal plant pathogenesis in the context of biological control.