Ultrastructural Changes of the Two Types of Differentiated Cells during the Migration and Early Culmination Stages of Dictyostelium discoideum

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Abstract
Changes of fine structure during prolonged migration of D. discoideum slugs were studied by EM. Prespore specific vacuoles of cells located near the substratum gradually degenerated and the prespore antigen contained in them was lost. During the process, mitochondria in the prespore cells were transformed dramatically: as the mitochondrion elongates, its central part becomes thinner and the cristae become localized at its 2 ends. Then it bends and its 2 ends fuse to segregate part of the cytoplasm. The cristae then accumulate in the original ends. Similar mitochondrial transformation was observed in prespore cells of cell masses induced to culminate after a long period of migration.