CSM News Electronic Edition Volume 4, number 14 April 15, 1995 Please submit abstracts of your papers as soon as they have been accepted for publication by sending them to CSM-News@worms.cmsbio.nwu.edu. Back issues of CSM-News, the CSM Reference database and other useful information is available by anonymous ftp from worms.cmsbio.nwu.edu [165.124.233.50], via Gopher at the same address, or by World Wide Web at the URL "http://worms.cmsbio.nwu.edu/dicty.html" =============== Announcements =============== Ikuo Takeuchi writes: This is to inform you that I was elected Presedent of Okazaki National Research Institutes (ONRI) in Japan on April 1st, 1995. I have kept my e-mail and postal addresses and telephone number, but have changed fax number to 81-564-55-4386. The Institutes are complex of three independent Institutes, Institute for Molecular Science (chemistry), National Institute for Basic Biology (biology), and National Institute for Physiological Sciences (physiology). If you are interested in having Annual Report of any Institute, please let me know, so that I could send you a copy. I like to remind you that International Dictyostelium Conference 1996 will be held in Japan, after a coming one to be held this year in Dourdan near Paris. Professor Yasuo Maeda of Tohoku University is going to organise one in Japan and I hope that you enjoy both the meeting and hot spring near Sendai. Ikuo Takeuchi President Okazaki National Research Institutes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thierry Soldati writes: MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT fur MEDIZINISCHE FORSCHUNG ABTEILUNG MOLEKULARE ZELLFORSCHUNG Postdoctoral position in Molecular Cell Research Involvement of unconventional myosins in membrane structure and trafficking The successful applicants will be involved in the investigation of the potential roles of newly discovered members of the myosin superfamily in mechanisms of membrane structure and trafficking as well as their link to vesicular movement and targeting. The main model organism used for these studies, beside work on tissue culture cells, will be Dictyostelium discoideum. Therefore, projects will be aimed at the discovery, characterization and dissection of novel myosin molecules and their associated proteins, as well as a functional analysis of their importance for membrane structure and movement. Techniques involved will include molecular biology approaches using PCR and reverse PCR, as well as direct biochemical purification and membrane biology work. Applicants should have relevant experience in the techniques involved, a keen interest for problems linked to cellular cytoarchitecture and a vast supply of enthusiasm to work at the interface of the domains of cytoskeleton and membrane biology. Salary, according to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft regulation, will start around 3200.- DM monthly, according to familial status, qualification and experience. Applications including a CV, a short description of research accomplishments and future interests, a publication list and the names of two referees should be sent to: Dr. Thierry Soldati Max-Planck-Institut f?r Medizinische Forschung Abteilung Molekulare Zellforschung Jahnstrasse 29 D-69058 Heidelberg, Germany Tel No: +49 6221 486407 FAX No: +49 6221 486325 E-mail: soldati@mzf.mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de =========== Abstracts =========== Self- and non-self-recognition in bisexual mating of Dictyostelium discoideum ISSEI HIGUCHI, YASUKO KANEMURA, HAJIME SHIMIZU AND HIDEKO URUSHIHARA UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA, INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, TSUKUBA, IBARAKI 305 JAPAN¨ Development Growth & Differentiation, in press ABSTRACT Cell recognition plays a central part in the sexual process. Although cell-surface molecules involved in gamete recognition have been identified in several organisms, our knowledge on the molecular basis of sexual cell recognition is still limited. We have been studying molecular mechanisms of sexual cell fusion using the lower eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum. There are homothallic, heterothallic, bisexual and asexual strains in D. discoideum, and how they recognize each from the other to find out proper partners is an interesting and important question. However, analytical studies of sexuality in D. discoideum have been carried out mostly on heterothallic strains, and the polymorphism of the mating system has not yet been thoroughly investigated. In the present study, we extended our analysis to the bisexual mating phenomenon paying special attention to the mechanism of self-incompatibility. We showed that a bisexual strain WS2162 was self-incompatible at the step of sexual cell fusion. Results of antibody inhibition of cell fusion and detection of gp138, a cell-fusion-related protein found in heterothallic strains, suggest that molecular bases for bisexual and heterothallic mating are common. We propose two models to clarify the mechanisms of self- and non-self discrimination in bisexual mating of D. discoideum. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [End CSM News, volume 4, number 14]