Involvement of myosin in intracellular motility and cytomorphogenesis in Micrasterias

Myosin was detected on Western blots of Micrasterias denticulata extracts by use of antibodies from different sources. Inhibitors with different targets of the actomyosin system, such as the myosin ATPase-blockers N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM), or the myosin light chain kinase inhibitor 1-(5-iodonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl)-1H-hexhydro-1,4-diazapine (ML7), had similar effects on intracellular motility during cell development in the green alga Micrasterias, thus pointing towards a participation of myosin in these processes. The drugs markedly altered the mode of postmitotic nuclear migration, slowed down cytoplasmic streaming, changed cell pattern development and prevented normal chloroplast distribution and spreading into the growing semicell. In addition, an increase and dilatations in ER cisternae and marked morphological changes of the Golgi system were observed by transmission electron microscopy after exposure of growing cells to BDM. Neither BDM nor MU exhibited any effect on the distribution or arrangement of the cortical F-actin network nor on the F-actin basket around the nucleus, characteristic of untreated growing Micrasterias cells (J Cell Sci 107 (1994) 1929). This is particularly interesting since BDM caused disintegration of the microtubule system co-localized to the F-actin cage during normal nuclear migration. Together with the fact that other microtubules not connected to the F-actin system remained uninfluenced by BDM, this observation is evidence of an integrative function of myosin between the cytoskeleton elements. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.