SrfB, a member of the Serum Response factor family of transcription factors, regulates starvation response and early development in Dictyostelium

The Serum Response Factor (SRF) is an important regulator of cell proliferation and differentiation. Dictyostelium discoideum srfB gene codes for an SRF homologue and is expressed in vegetative cells and during development under the control of three alternative promoters, which show different cell-type specific patterns of expression. The two more proximal promoters directed gene transcription in prestalk AB, stalk and lowercup cells. The generation of a strain where the srfB gene has been interrupted (srfB−) has shown that this gene is required for regulation of actin–cytoskeleton-related functions, such as cytokinesis and macropinocytosis. The mutant failed to develop well in suspension, but could be rescued by cAMP pulsing, suggesting a defect in cAMP signaling. srfB− cells showed impaired chemotaxis to cAMP and defective lateral pseudopodium inhibition. Nevertheless, srfB− cells aggregated on agar plates and nitrocellulose filters 2 h earlier than wild type cells, and completed development, showing an increased tendency to form slug structures. Analysis of wild type and srfB− strains detected significant differences in the regulation of gene expression upon starvation. Genes coding for lysosomal and ribosomal proteins, developmentally-regulated genes, and some genes coding for proteins involved in cytoskeleton regulation were deregulated during the first stages of development. The data obtained indicate that srfB plays important roles in the regulation of the proliferation/development transition and in the initiation of culmination during fruiting body formation.