CAR2, a prestalk cAMP receptor required for normal tip formation and late development of Dictyostelium discoideum.

Extracellular cAMP serves as a primary signaling molecule to regulate the development of Dictyostelium discoideum. It is required for chemotaxis, aggregation, cytodifferentiation, and morphogenetic movement. The receptors for cAMP are members of the family of cell-surface receptors that are linked to G proteins and characterized by seven putative transmembrane domains. Previously, we have isolated the gene for the cAMP receptor subtype 1 (CAR1) from Dictyostelium and suggested that several genes related to CAR1 were present in the genome. Here, we describe a family of cAMP receptor genes of Dictyostelium and the isolation and function of the gene for the cAMP receptor subtype 2, CAR2. CAR2 is structurally similar to CAR1. Overall, their transmembrane and loop domains are approximately 75% identical in amino acid sequence; however, their carboxyl termini are quite dissimilar; CAR2 possesses homopolymeric runs of histidines and asparagines that are absent from the corresponding region in CAR1. Although CAR1 is maximally expressed during the early stages of development, CAR2 is expressed only after cells have aggregated and, then, preferentially in prestalk cells. Transgenic Dictyostelium that have had their wild-type CAR2 gene replaced by a defective copy using homologous recombination proceed through early development but are detained at the tight mound stage. CAR2 may be required for cAMP-directed sorting of prestalk cells during pattern formation within the aggregation mound. Furthermore, although prestalk genes are expressed normally in aggregates that lack CAR2, they exhibit an enhanced expression of prespore-specific mRNA. Previously, we had shown that there was a requirement for CAR1 during early development. The present results demonstrate that the multiple responses of Dictyostelium to cAMP are regulated by distinct cAMP receptors that are encoded by unique genes.