DEVELOPMENTAL REGULATION OF THE INOSITOL 1,4,5-TRISPHOSPHATE PHOSPHATASES IN DICTYOSTELIUM-DISCOIDEUM

The cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum is a microorganism in which growth and development are strictly separated. Starvation initiates a developmental program in which extracellular cAMP plays a major role as a signal molecule. In response to cAMP several second messengers are produced, including cAMP, cGMP and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, (Ins(1,4,5)P3). Ins(1,4,5)P3 levels are controlled by the activation of phosphoinositidase C and the activity of the Ins(1,4,5)P3-degrading phosphatases. In Dictyostelium discoideum two major routes for the dephosphorylation of Ins(1,4,5)P3 are present: a 5-phosphatase, which hydrolyses Ins(1,4,5)P3 at the 5-position producing Ins(1,4)P2 as in vertebrate cells, and a 1-phosphatase which removes the 1-phosphate, giving Ins(4,5)P2, as in plants. In this paper we show that at the onset of development both the 1-phosphatase and the 5-phosphatase are present in equal amounts. During development the 5-phosphatase disappears leaving the 1-phosphatase as the single enzyme to remove Ins(1,4,5)P3. We conclude that during development Dictyostelium discoideum switches from a mixed type of Ins(1,4,5)P3 degradation to a more plant-like degradation pathway.