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Using Paramecium as a Model for Ciliopathies
Paramecium has served as a model organism for the studies of many aspects of genetics and cell biology: non-Mendelian inheritance, genome duplication, genome rearrangements, and exocytosis, to name a few. However, the large number and patterning of cilia that cover its surface have inspired extraord...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8535419/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34680887 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes12101493 |
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author | Valentine, Megan Van Houten, Judith |
author_facet | Valentine, Megan Van Houten, Judith |
author_sort | Valentine, Megan |
collection | PubMed |
description | Paramecium has served as a model organism for the studies of many aspects of genetics and cell biology: non-Mendelian inheritance, genome duplication, genome rearrangements, and exocytosis, to name a few. However, the large number and patterning of cilia that cover its surface have inspired extraordinary ultrastructural work. Its swimming patterns inspired exquisite electrophysiological studies that led to a description of the bioelectric control of ciliary motion. A genetic dissection of swimming behavior moved the field toward the genes and gene products underlying ciliary function. With the advent of molecular technologies, it became clear that there was not only great conservation of ciliary structure but also of the genes coding for ciliary structure and function. It is this conservation and the legacy of past research that allow us to use Paramecium as a model for cilia and ciliary diseases called ciliopathies. However, there would be no compelling reason to study Paramecium as this model if there were no new insights into cilia and ciliopathies to be gained. In this review, we present studies that we believe will do this. For example, while the literature continues to state that immotile cilia are sensory and motile cilia are not, we will provide evidence that Paramecium cilia are clearly sensory. Other examples show that while a Paramecium protein is highly conserved it takes a different interacting partner or conducts a different ion than expected. Perhaps these exceptions will provoke new ideas about mammalian systems. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8535419 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-85354192021-10-23 Using Paramecium as a Model for Ciliopathies Valentine, Megan Van Houten, Judith Genes (Basel) Review Paramecium has served as a model organism for the studies of many aspects of genetics and cell biology: non-Mendelian inheritance, genome duplication, genome rearrangements, and exocytosis, to name a few. However, the large number and patterning of cilia that cover its surface have inspired extraordinary ultrastructural work. Its swimming patterns inspired exquisite electrophysiological studies that led to a description of the bioelectric control of ciliary motion. A genetic dissection of swimming behavior moved the field toward the genes and gene products underlying ciliary function. With the advent of molecular technologies, it became clear that there was not only great conservation of ciliary structure but also of the genes coding for ciliary structure and function. It is this conservation and the legacy of past research that allow us to use Paramecium as a model for cilia and ciliary diseases called ciliopathies. However, there would be no compelling reason to study Paramecium as this model if there were no new insights into cilia and ciliopathies to be gained. In this review, we present studies that we believe will do this. For example, while the literature continues to state that immotile cilia are sensory and motile cilia are not, we will provide evidence that Paramecium cilia are clearly sensory. Other examples show that while a Paramecium protein is highly conserved it takes a different interacting partner or conducts a different ion than expected. Perhaps these exceptions will provoke new ideas about mammalian systems. MDPI 2021-09-24 /pmc/articles/PMC8535419/ /pubmed/34680887 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes12101493 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Valentine, Megan Van Houten, Judith Using Paramecium as a Model for Ciliopathies |
title | Using Paramecium as a Model for Ciliopathies |
title_full | Using Paramecium as a Model for Ciliopathies |
title_fullStr | Using Paramecium as a Model for Ciliopathies |
title_full_unstemmed | Using Paramecium as a Model for Ciliopathies |
title_short | Using Paramecium as a Model for Ciliopathies |
title_sort | using paramecium as a model for ciliopathies |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8535419/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34680887 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes12101493 |
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