Hidekazu Kuwayama

TL;DR: This method depends on DNA fragment fusion by the PCR technique and requires only two steps of PCR to obtain a sufficient amount of the gene disruption construct for one transformation experiment, and is simple, rapid and relatively inexpensive.

TL;DR: Sp spontaneous oscillations in activation of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase ERK2 that occur in phase with peaks of cAMP are observed, and it is shown that ERK 2 modulates cAMP levels through the phosphodiesterase RegA.

TL;DR: Analysis of the two differentiated cell types, spores and stalk cells, and their precursors revealed a large number of differentially expressed genes as well as unexpected patterns of gene expression, which shed new light on the timing and possible mechanisms of cell-type divergence.

TL;DR: Analysis of mutants of the microorganism Dictyostelium discoideum revealed that myosin also provides resistance against high external osmolarities, and an osmo-induced increase of intracellular guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate was shown to mediate phosphorylation of three threonine residues on the myOSin tail, which caused a relocalization of myosIn required to resist osmotic stress.

TL;DR: These observations provide an identification of the genes required for directional switching in electrotaxis and suggest that a parallel processing of electric signals, in which multiple-signaling pathways act to bias cell movement toward the cathode or anode, is used to determine the direction of migration.