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Key elements of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor pathway in Volvox carteri

Armin Hallmann

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The green alga Volvox carteri is one of the simplest multicellular organisms. It consists of only two cell types, somatic and reproductive cells, making it a suitable model system for studying cell division, multicellularity, and cellular differentiation. Each of the ~2000-4000 cells of an adult, asexual organism arises through a sequence of symmetric and asymmetric cleavage divisions from a single, asexual reproductive cell. As in ontogenetic development of higher organisms, the fate of a Volvox blastomere (i.e., whether it undergoes division or differentiation) is determined by a complex balance of regulators. Retinoblastoma-related proteins (RBRs) seem to act as key regulators and hubs in cell cycle control and, therefore, have been investigated in detail in higher organisms. Recently, the identification and characterization of a gender-specific RBR in Volvox, RBR1, revealed a role for the retinoblastoma protein family in sexual development. RBRs are elements of a conserved signal-transduction pathway called the retinoblastoma (RB) tumor suppressor pathway. In addition to RBR1, other key components of this pathway are present in Volvox, demonstrating that the RB signal-transduction pathway is utilized by these simple green algae.

Kianianmomeni A, Nematollahi G, Hallmann A. A gender-specific retinoblastoma-related protein in Volvox carteri implies a role for the retinoblastoma protein family in sexual development. Plant Cell 2008; 20: 2399-419.

Authors

Armin Hallmann Corresponding author: armin.hallmann@gmx.de

Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

This is an open-access article

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