Overproduction of discoidin I by a temperature-sensitive motility mutant of Dictyostelium discoideum.

Dictyostelium discoideum MC2 is a temperature-sensitive motility mutant of AX3. Mutant cells are incapable of growth, phagocytosis, and migration under restrictive conditions (Kayman et al., J. Cell Biol. 92:705-711, 1982). We show here that at the restrictive temperature MC2 cells grown axenically or on bacteria synthesized excessive quantities of the lectin discoidin I. By two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and peptide mapping, the proteins overproduced by MC2 cells were indistinguishable from discoidin I synthesized at lower levels in AX3 cells. At least two of the three species of discoidin I were overproduced. This protein family constituted 9% of the total protein in cells that were incubated overnight at 27 degrees C in axenic medium. Although MC2 cells are defective in nutrient uptake under restrictive conditions, the overproduction of discoidin I did not appear to be part of a pleiotropic response to starvation. We propose that transcription of the coordinately regulated discoidin I genes is altered in mutant cells. This alteration may be related to the motility defects manifested by MC2.