Accumulation of unsulphated precursors in Dictyostelium discoideum during selenate inhibition of growth.

Incubation of Dictyostelium discoideum cells with selenate is known to inhibit vegetative growth. In this paper we show that in the presence of selenate macromolecules accumulate which can be converted to sulphated products once the selenate is removed. The presence of cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, during the subsequent incubation does not prevent this conversion but tunicamycin, an inhibitor of glycosylation does. It is concluded that, in the presence of selenate, precursors accumulate as unglycosylated proteins, suggesting that feedback inhibition of glycosylation may be operated.