The role of Ca2+ during spore germination in Dictyostelium: autoactivation is mediated by the mobilization of Ca2+ while amoebal emergence requires entry of external Ca2+.

One of the developmental pathways used by the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum produces dormant spores. As with any temporary resistant stage, these spores must be able to germinate rapidly in response to positive environmental stimuli. One such stimulus is the autoactivator, an endogenous, diffusible molecule that is secreted by spores. Previous work has shown that three phases of germination, autoactivation, spore swelling and amoebal emergence, require the activity of the Ca(2+)-dependent, regulatory protein calmodulin, implicating Ca2+ as an essential cation during germination. In this study we used a pharmacological approach coupled with the direct measurement of Ca2+ levels in germinating spore populations by atomic adsorption to examine Ca(2+)-dependent signal transduction during spore activation and germination in D. discoideum. Inhibitors of both phospholipase C and internal Ca2+ release inhibited autoactivation while exogenously added Ins(1,4,5)P3, acted synergistically with the autoactivator. The antagonists specifically affected spore activation as mediated by the autoactivator, since neither had any effect on heat-activated spores. In contrast, La3+, an inhibitor of Ca2+ uptake, had little or no effect on either autoactivation or the swelling of autoactivated spores. However, an inhibition of Ca2+ influx by La3+ inhibited both the swelling of heat-activated spores and amoebal emergence following each period of autoactivation or heat activation. Ca2+ levels change in the spore population during germination. During activation and swelling, Ca2+ efflux occurs from the spores. Both of the activating stimuli used here, the autoactivator and heat, caused this Ca2+ efflux. The efflux is reversed during emergence when there is a net Ca2+ uptake by the spores and cells from the medium. Together these data provide the first evidence that autoactivation is mediated by Ca(2+)-dependent signal transduction, leading to Ca2+ efflux, and that the late event of germination, amoebal emergence, requires Ca2+ uptake to proceed. The data also suggest that the responses of the spore to the each of autoactivator and heat, i.e. Ca2+ movements and germination, are mediated by different mechanisms.