Northern analysis has revealed substantial differences in mRNA accumulation of the two histone H3 gene variants represented by pH3c-1 and pH3c-11 cDNA clones. Both in partially synchronized cell suspension cultures and in protoplast-derived cells from alfalfa, Medicago varia, the maximal level of the histone H3-1 gene transcript coincided with the peak in [(3)H]thymidine incorporation. Histone H3-11 mRNA was detectable in cells throughout the period of the cell cycle studied. Various stress factors such as medium replacement, enzyme digestion of the cell wall, osmotic shock, and auxin treatment considerably increased the level of the histone H3-11 transcript. In alfalfa (Medicago sativa), the presence of H3-11 mRNA in unorganized tissues of microcallus suspension and in somatic embryos induced by auxin treatment supports the idea that this H3 variant exists in a continously active state of transcription. During embryo development, the early globular stage embryos showed increased accumulation of histone H3-11 mRNA in comparison with the later stages. The highest level of the histone H3-1 transcript was detectable 1 day after treatment of callus tissues with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Somatic embryos contained appreciable levels of histone H3-1 transcripts at all stages of somatic embryo development. These observations suggest that the histone H3-1 gene belòngs to the class of replication-dependent histone genes. The histone H3-11 gene showed characteristics of a constitutively expressed replacement-type histone gene, with a specific characteristic that external factors can influence the level of gene transcription.

Hormones as auxins and cytokinins trigger the division cycle in differentiated plant cells and are required for the maintenance of proliferation in cultured cells in vitro. Northern analysis showed that the expression pattern of alfalfa cdc2 genes is significantly different in cells of primary explants exposed to hormone treatment and of rapidly cycling suspension culture. Transcription of at least one of the cdc2 genes is activated by hormones in cultured leaf mesophyll protoplasts or in root tissues treated with auxins and cytokinins. In a suspension culture of alfalfa cells, cdc2 transcripts are at a constitutively high level, irrespective of actual cell cycle phase. In addition to the transcriptional control of cdc2 genes, in hormone‐induced cells cdc2‐related kinase complexes were identified as potential phase‐specific components of post‐transcriptional regulation of the cell cycle. The known specific interaction between eukaryotic p34cdc2 protein complexes and the yeast p13suc1 protein was exploited for purification of cell cycle regulatory protein kinases from alfalfa. Alfalfa suspension cells were synchronized either for G1 phase by double‐phosphate‐starvation or for S phase by hydroxyurea treatment. The p13suc1‐Sepharose affinity matrix bound two cdc2 protein‐related complexes, one with increased histone H1 kinase activity in S, the other in G2/M phase. The complex from S phase cells showed higher kinase activity than the G2/M phase complex. Immunoblotting of p13suc1‐Sepharose‐bound protein complex showed the presence of a 33–34 kDa doublet that is recognized by anti‐PSTAIR antibodies and the co‐purification of two proteins (apparent molecular mass 65 and 42 kDa) cross‐reacting with human cyclin A antibodies. Immunoprecipitation with these cyclin A antibodies allowed the detection of a third cdc2‐related kinase complex that appeared during G1/S and early S phases of the cell cycle and phosphorylated histone H1. The results suggest that a multi‐component regulatory system is in control of the cell cycle in plants, which includes a hormone‐activated transcriptional control of cdc2 genes and phase‐specific cdc2‐related kinase complexes.

Many microbial communities contain organized patterns of cell types, yet relatively little is known about the mechanism or function of this organization. In colonies of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sporulation occurs in a highly organized pattern, with a top layer of sporulating cells sharply separated from an underlying layer of nonsporulating cells. A mutant screen identified the Mpk1 and Bck1 kinases of the cell-wall integrity (CWI) pathway as specifically required for sporulation in colonies. The CWI pathway was induced as colonies matured, and a target of this pathway, the Rlm1 transcription factor, was activated specifically in the nonsporulating cell layer, here termed feeder cells. Rlm1 stimulates permeabilization of feeder cells and promotes sporulation in an overlying cell layer through a cell-nonautonomous mechanism. The relative fraction of the colony apportioned to feeder cells depends on nutrient environment, potentially buffering sexual reproduction against suboptimal environments.KEYWORDS cell-wall integrity; cell permeability; cell-cell signaling; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; sporulation A S embryos develop, cells of different fates organize into patterns [reviewed in Kicheva et al. (2012) and Perrimon et al. (2012)] . Intriguingly, even unicellular microbial species form communities in which different cell types are organized into patterns [reviewed in Kaiser et al. (2010), Honigberg (2011, and Loomis (2014)]. For example, colonies of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae form an upper layer of larger cells (U cells) overlying a layer of smaller cells (L cells). U and L cells differ in their metabolism, gene expression, and resistance to stress, and U and L layers are separated by a strikingly sharp boundary Vachova et al. 2013). Patterns are also observed in yeast biofilms, where cells closest to the plastic surface grow as ovoid cells, whereas cells further from the surface differentiate into hyphae for Candida species [reviewed in Finkel and Mitchell (2011)] or pseudohyphae and eventually asci for S. cerevisiae (White et al. 2011).Sporulation also occurs in patterns within yeast colonies. Specifically, a narrow horizontal layer of sporulated cells forms through the center of the colony early during colony development. As colonies continue to mature, this layer progressively expands upward to include the top of the colony; this wave is driven by progressive alkalization and activation of the Rim101 signaling pathway . In contrast, cells at the bottom of the colony, i.e., directly contacting the agar substrate, also sporulate at early stages of colony development, but this narrow cell layer does not expand as the colony matures . The same colony sporulation pattern is observed in a range of laboratory yeasts as well as in S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus isolated from the wild. Indeed, in these wild yeasts, the same colony sporulation pattern forms on a range of fermentable and nonfermentable carbon sources .The mechanism of sporulation patterning and its function remai...

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