Segregation of pre-stalk and pre-spore cells of Dictyostelium discoideum: observations consistent with selective cell cohesion.

Aggregating Dictyostelium discoideum cells were dissociated and separated into two populations, pre-stalk and pre-spore cells, by centrifugation in a Percoll gradient. After harvesting, one population of cells was labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate and the other with tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate. Equal numbers of the two cell populations were then mixed and observed while they aggregated and differentiated to form fruiting bodies. Within minutes after mixing, the two populations showed evidence of segregation and tended to form separate streams of cells as they migrated toward aggregation centers. Many separate clusters of tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate-labeled or fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled cells were found within an aggregation center. Thereafter there was further segregation. The denser cells from the gradient tended to assume the position of stalk cells whereas the lighter cells migrated to the position characteristic of spore cells. The patterns of segregation suggest that selective cohesiveness of one or both cell types plays a role in morphogenesis.