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M F Dolan

Publications and source records attributed to M F Dolan.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Speciation of termite gut protists: the role of bacterial symbionts.

At least 12 termite gut protists have been named because of their bacterial symbionts. Dozens more species are diagnosed by epi- and endosymbionts and more still have regular bacterial associations referred to in their species description. Molecular systematic studies have begun to identify these bacteria, but the ecological relations with their protist bionts are still unknown. Recent findings of acetogenic spirochetes in termite guts may explain the peculiar arrangement of spirochetes on some of these protists. Other bacteria function as motility or chemotactic symbionts of these protists. The size and shape of the parabasal body, a Golgi complex, are morphological characters of the Parabasalia (trichomonads, hypermastigids) that may be influenced by regular, heritable epi- and endosymbiotic bacteria.

Animals↗

The chimeric eukaryote: origin of the nucleus from the karyomastigont in amitochondriate protists.

We present a testable model for the origin of the nucleus, the membrane-bounded organelle that defines eukaryotes. A chimeric cell evolved via symbiogenesis by syntrophic merger between an archaebacterium and a eubacterium. The archaebacterium, a thermoacidophil resembling extant Thermoplasma, generated hydrogen sulfide to protect the eubacterium, a heterotrophic swimmer comparable to Spirochaeta or Hollandina that oxidized sulfide to sulfur. Selection pressure for speed swimming and oxygen avoidance led to an ancient analogue of the extant cosmopolitan bacterial consortium "Thiodendron latens." By eubacterial-archaebacterial genetic integration, the chimera, an amitochondriate heterotroph, evolved. This "earliest branching protist" that formed by permanent DNA recombination generated the nucleus as a component of the karyomastigont, an intracellular complex that assured genetic continuity of the former symbionts. The karyomastigont organellar system, common in extant amitochondriate protists as well as in presumed mitochondriate ancestors, minimally consists of a single nucleus, a single kinetosome and their protein connector. As predecessor of standard mitosis, the karyomastigont preceded free (unattached) nuclei. The nucleus evolved in karyomastigont ancestors by detachment at least five times (archamoebae, calonymphids, chlorophyte green algae, ciliates, foraminifera). This specific model of syntrophic chimeric fusion can be proved by sequence comparison of functional domains of motility proteins isolated from candidate taxa.

Animals↗

Centrioles and kinetosomes: form, function, and evolution.

We review the literature on centrioles, kinetosomes, and other microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) in animal, plant, and protist cells in the context of the Henneguy-Lenhossék theory of 1899. This 100-year-old cytological theory, valid today, defines centrioles and kinetosomes as identical, homologous but developmentally distinguishable structures. Centrioles (paired constituents of mitotic centrosomes in animal cells) become kinetosomes (ciliary basal bodies) when their 9(2) + 2 microtubular axonemes grow outward. During mitosis in Chlamydomonas, the kinetosomes are segregated at the poles of the mitotic spindle. Mitotic centrioles function as organelles of motility in many protists, though nowhere is this centriole-kinetosome relation more clearly seen than in the karyomastigont structure (kinetosome-nucleus-Golgi complex organellar system) of the trichomonads and other amitochondriate parabasalids. Constituent sequences of mitotic spindle-centriole-kinetosome proteins (gamma-tubulin, pericentrin, and the cyclin-dependent kinases Cdc2 and Cdc3, members of the centrin family) are conserved across taxa, occurring in animal and protist centrioles, plant MTOCs, and fungal spindle pole bodies. We review ultrastructural and molecular data on these and other important MTOC proteins, and present a model whereby the cytological arrangement of centrioles (i.e., orthogonal pairs as in centrosomes) may have originated. We compare and contrast endogenous and exogenous (bacterial symbiont integration) models for the evolution of centriole-kinetosomes (c-ks), with illustrative examples from Kingdom Protoctista.

Animals↗

DNA fluorescent stain accumulates in the Golgi but not in the kinetosomes of amitochondriate protists.

Hindgut symbiotic trichomonads (uninucleate Caduceia versatilis, and multinucleate Stephanonympha sp. and Snyderella tabogae) from the dry-wood-eating termite Cryptotermes cavifrons (Kalotermitidae) accumulate DAPI (4,6diamidino-2-phenylindole) in the membranous sacs of the Golgi complex. This form of Golgi complex, typical of protists in the class Parabasalia, is called a parabasal body. Trichomonads contain organellar systems, mastigonts, that consist of four undulipodia (e.g. eukaryotic flagella and cilia), axostylar microtubules, a parabasal body and other structures. These cells bear from one (in the case of Caduceia) to hundreds (in the case of Snyderella) of mastigonts. These features are characteristic of their protist class (Parabasalia). The nuclei of all three species stained with DNA-specific stains: DAPI, SYTOX, acridine orange, propidium iodide, ethidium bromide and Feulgen, at optimal concentrations, but kinetosomes failed to stain at all. The nuclei, parabasal bodies and symbiotic bacteria (but no microtubular structures) fluoresced in glutaraldehyde-fixed cells stained with 1.45 microM DAPI. Parabasal bodies of Snyderella and Caduceia treated to remove lipids with Triton X-100, or treated with 5% trichloroacetic acid, lacked DAPI-fluorescence. I conclude that DNA, present as expected in nuclei and bacterial symbionts, is absent from and not associated with calonymphid kinetosomes. The reason for DNA-RNA stain accumulation in the Golgi cistemae is not clear.

Acridine Orange↗

Pulmonary and extrapulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis. Report of a case with bilateral renal angiomyolipomas, multifocal lymphangioleiomyomatosis, and a glial polyp of the endocervix.

The authors report an extraordinary case of a 33-year-old female who had pulmonary and extrapulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis, bilateral renal angiomyolipomas, multifocal lymphangioleiomyomatosis involving the uterus, ovaries, periadrenal vessels, and liver. The patient also had a glial polyp of the endocervix which represented retained fetal parts from an abortion 15 years earlier. Both ovaries showed multiple follicle cysts which may have been a source of endogenous estrogen. The classical stigmata of the tuberous sclerosis complex were absent. The multifocal lymphangioleiomyomatosis of the various organs described presents an extremely rare manifestation of this disorder.

Adult↗

Immunologic characterization of a helper T-cell lymphoma.

The lymphocytes of a patient with a T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with peripheral blood involvement and polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia were characterized in terms of surface markers and immunologic functions. Using the fluorescence-activated cell sorter and employing various monoclonal antibodies against T-cell surface antigens, it was shown that almost all of the patient's peripheral blood lymphocytes were positive for OKT4 and 9.3, antibodies that recognize helper T-cell subset. The circulating lymphoma cells had typical characteristics for T cells; they formed spontaneous rosettes with sheep erythrocytes and stained with the pan-T-cell antibodies 9.6 and 10.2, but did not react with other anti-T-cell monoclonal reagents such as OKT3, UCHT-1, and 3A1. The cells appeared to be mature by the fact that they did not stain with OKT6, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase was undetectable. Functionally, they were able to provide "help" for antibody production, and they could be stimulated to produce moderate amounts of interleukin-2, while unable to proliferate in response to mitogens. Morphologically, some of the lymphocytes showed a deeply cleaved nucleus.

Aged↗