Showing papers by "Misuzu Baba published in 1989"

Three-dimensional analysis of morphogenesis induced by mating pheromone alpha factor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Abstract: Ultrastructural analyses of cytoplasmic changes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae X2180-1A (MATa) that had been treated with alpha factor were performed by using the freeze-substitution fixation method. After alpha factor treatment, cells exhibited a pointed projection, which is a unique pattern of oriented cell surface growth. The relationship between projection formation and intracellular organelles was examined using serial thin sections and computer-aided three-dimensional reconstructions. Using these analyses membrane vesicles and other organelles were detected, and studies on their dynamic structural reorganization became feasible. Production of membrane vesicles (average 65 nm in diameter) was induced upon exposure of the cells to alpha factor before projection emergence. The total number of membrane vesicles increased at the early stage and decreased at the late stage of projection formation. Three-dimensional analysis indicated that the vesicles were at first dispersed throughout the cell, then accumulated at the site where the projection formed. Morphological changes and multiplication of the Golgi body were seen during the process of projection formation. Other intracellular organelles (nucleus, vacuole, rough endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria) were also rearranged, showing a polar organization of the cytoplasm during projection formation.

Cell Wall Formation in Regenerating Protoplasts of Schizosaccharomyces pombe: Study by High Resolution, Low Voltage Scanning Electron Microscopy

Abstract: The ultrastructure of regenerating cell wall in Schizosaccharomyces pombe protoplasts was studied with a high resolution, low voltage scanning electron microscope (LVSEM). In contrast to the transmission electron microscopy, the LVSEM images give three-dimensional information on the cell wall regeneration in yeast protoplasts. We found that, after only a few minutes of incubation, the protoplasts began to show protuberances in a unipolar manner, and a fibrilar network was formed asymmetrically which covered the whole surface of the protoplasts after 5 hr. The network consisted of microfibrils about 8 to 10 nm wide, forming flat and wavy bundles of various widths and lengths, up to about 200 nm wide and 1 micron long, mainly made of yeast glucan. Free ends of microfibrils were seldom found. Interfibrillar spaces were progressively filled with granular particles and finally the complete cell wall was formed after 12 hr. The fibrillar network was destroyed by the digestion with beta (1----3)-glucanase. When protoplasts were regenerating in the presence of aculeacin A, the fibrillar networks were not formed, resulting in incomplete cell wall formation. These observations suggest that beta-glucan is the main component of the microfibrils and that it plays an important role in the formation of the cell wall in S. pombe.

Serial section reconstruction using a computer graphics system: applications to intracellular structures in yeast cells and to the periodontal structure of dogs' teeth.

Abstract: A computer graphics system for reconstruction from serial section micrographs was applied to intracellular details of a yeast target cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell) induced by the alpha factor mating pheromone and was also applied to a periodontal structure of a dog tooth moved orthodontically. In the former, intracellular organelles and a distribution of vesicles could be clearly observed through the cell membrane using the transparent display method in which the smoothing of the reconstructed outer cell membrane surface by computer processing was applied to the transparent display. In the latter case, by cutting through a reconstructed dog tooth and its periodontal tissues, labiolingual and mesiodistal cut surfaces of the tooth and of adjacent alveolar bone could be observed with fine details (232 sections were used).