Effects of tubulozole on the amoeboflagellate transformation in Physarum polycephalum.

The Amoeboflagellate Transformation (AFT) of Physarum polycephalum involves rapid changes in the cytoskeleton, cell shape and cell motility. Use of pharmacologic agents to probe the role of cytoskeletal elements in the AFT are impeded because the transforming cells are very sensitive to such commonly-used drug solvents as DMSO. The anti-microtubule agent tubulozole is found to disrupt, rapidly and transiently, the AFT, inhibiting flagella formation, cell elongation and the arrangement of microtubules and microfilaments. Cells recover quickly, possibly due to precipitation of the drug; the reappearance of normal arrays of microfilaments and cytoplasmic microtubules lags behind flagella formation.