Mating Type Specific Inhibition of Gametic Differentiation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by Tunicamycin

Abstract
The effect of tunicamycin, an inhibitor of glycosylation of proteins, on the gametic differentiation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was studied. When mt+ cells were treated with tunicamycin during gametogenesis, the acquisition of agglutinability on their flagella was completely inhibited. However, no significant inhibition was observed when mt cells were treated with tunicamycin during gametic induction. The agglutinability of the fully competent gametes of mt+ cells decreased sharply after about 4 hr of incubation with tunicamycin and was lost completely after 8 hr. These results indicate that the gametic flagellar membrane of the mt+ cell may acquire glycoproteins with tunicamycin sensitive sugar chains, the halflife of which is about 6 hr.

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