J. Cell Biol.
© The Rockefeller University Press
0021-9525/97/08/605/10 $2.00
Volume 138, Number 3, August 11, 1997 605-614

Dictyostelium RasG Is Required for Normal Motility and Cytokinesis, But Not Growth

Richard I. Tuxworth,^* Janet L. Cheetham,^* Laura M. Machesky,^*§ George B. Spiegelmann, Gerald Weeks, and Robert H. Insall^*

^* Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology,  Department of Physiology, and ^§ Department of Molecular Medicine, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; and  Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada

RasG is the most abundant Ras protein in growing Dictyostelium cells and the closest relative of mammalian Ras proteins. We have generated null mutants in which expression of RasG is completely abolished. Unexpectedly, RasG cells are able to grow at nearly wild-type rates. However, they exhibit defective cell movement and a wide range of defects in the control of the actin cytoskeleton, including a loss of cell polarity, absence of normal lamellipodia, formation of unusual small, punctate polymerized actin structures, and a large number of abnormally long filopodia. Despite their lack of polarity and abnormal cytoskeleton, mutant cells perform normal chemotaxis. However, rasG cells are unable to perform normal cytokinesis, becoming multinucleate when grown in suspension culture. Taken together, these data suggest a principal role for RasG in coordination of cell movement and control of the cytoskeleton.

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