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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jun 15.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Biol. 2015 Jun 4;25(12):1583–1593. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.060

Assembly of IFT trains at the ciliary base depends on IFT74

Jason M Brown 1,2, Deborah A Cochran 1, Branch Craige 1, Tomohiro Kubo 1, George B Witman 1,*
PMCID: PMC4482480  NIHMSID: NIHMS697740  PMID: 26051893

SUMMARY

Intraflagellar transport (IFT) moves IFT trains carrying cargoes from the cell body into the flagellum and from the flagellum back to the cell body. IFT trains are composed of complexes IFT-A and IFT-B and cargo adapters such as the BBSome. The IFT-B core proteins IFT74 and IFT81 interact directly through central and C-terminal coiled-coil domains, and recently it was shown that the N-termini of these proteins form a tubulin-binding module important for ciliogenesis. To investigate the function of IFT74 and its domains in vivo, we have utilized Chlamydomonas reinhardtii ift74 mutants. In a null mutant, lack of IFT74 destabilized IFT-B, leading to flagella assembly failure. In this null background, expression of IFT74 lacking 130 aa of the charged N terminus stabilized IFT-B and promoted slow assembly of nearly full-length flagella. A further truncation (lacking aa 1-196 including part of coiled-coil 1) also stabilized IFT-B, but failure in IFT-A / IFT-B interaction within the pool at the base of the flagellum prevented entry of IFT-A into the flagellum and led to severely decreased IFT injection frequency and flagellar-assembly defects. Decreased IFT-A in these short flagella resulted in aggregates of stalled IFT-B in the flagella. We conclude that IFT74 is required to stabilize IFT-B; aa 197-641 are sufficient for this function in vivo. The N terminus of IFT74 may be involved in but is not required for tubulin entry into flagella. It is required for association of IFT-A and IFT-B at the base of the flagellum and flagellar import of IFT-A.

Graphical abstract

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INTRODUCTION

Flagellar assembly and function depend on intraflagellar transport (IFT), the movement of multi-megadalton complexes (trains) from the cell body to the tip of the flagellum by kinesin-2 (anterograde IFT) and their return to the cell body by cytoplasmic dynein 1b (retrograde IFT). Anterograde IFT transports flagellar structural components, including tubulin, to their sites of assembly at the flagellar tip [1, 2, 3]. Retrograde IFT transports structural components [4], membrane proteins [5], and signals [6, 7] back to the cell body. IFT trains include IFT-A and IFT-B complexes, which are composed of at least 6 and 14 different proteins, respectively [8]. IFT-A appears to be substoichiometric to IFT-B in cilia [9]. IFT-A and IFT-B are easily separable, indicating that they are relatively weakly connected to each other. These weak connections probably facilitate the remodeling of trains that occurs at the ciliary base to form anterograde trains and at the tip to form retrograde trains [10, 11]. Some trains also contain BBSomes, another large complex that acts as an IFT cargo adapter [5, 9].

There is much current interest in understanding how the IFT proteins interact with each other, with their cargos, and with other components necessary for IFT function [12]. IFT-B contains both “core” and “peripheral” proteins [13]; within the core, IFT74 and IFT81 directly interact [14]. Both proteins have extended central and C-terminal coiled-coil domains that are necessary and sufficient for IFT74/81 interaction in yeast two-hybrid assays; however, the N-terminal part of the first coiled-coil domain of IFT74 is not required for this interaction [13]. Recently, it was demonstrated that the N-terminus of IFT81 contains a motif capable of binding tubulin in vitro and that the positively-charged IFT74 N-terminus proximal to the first coiled-coil domain enhances the affinity of this interaction [15]. Mutation of the IFT81 residues involved in this binding caused a ciliogenesis defect in human RPE-1 cells, suggesting that IFT74/81 has a role in transport of tubulin to the tip of the cilium.

In this study, we used Chlamydomonas reinhardtii IFT74 mutants to analyze the functions of IFT74 and its N-terminal domains in vivo. We show that IFT74 is required for IFT-B stability and flagellar assembly. We find that the positively-charged N terminus of IFT74 is necessary for normal flagellar assembly kinetics but is not required for tubulin entry into flagella. Furthermore, we show that the region near the N terminus of IFT74 coiled-coil 1 is required for the normal association of IFT-A with IFT-B both in the cell body and within flagella. Observations of IFT-A and IFT-B at the bases of wild-type and mutant flagella by super-resolution structured-illumination microscopy (SIM) lead to a model for how these two complexes are assembled into trains prior to flagellar entry.

RESULTS

Identification of two IFT74 mutants

We used insertional mutagenesis of C. reinhardtii to generate strains with mutations in genes required for flagellar assembly and function. The independently isolated trains BB12 and 11C#3 were each palmelloid under standard growth conditions (compare movie S1 of wild-type cells to movies S2 and S3). This indicates a failure in hatching from the mother cell wall, a flagellum-dependent process.

BB12 contains a concatameric pHyg3 insert in exon 2 of IFT74 accompanied by a 16-nt deletion from exon 2 codons 191-196 (Fig. 1A). The partial aph7″ cassette at the 3’ end of this complex insert contains a β-tubulin promoter fused in-frame to IFT74. Translation of the resulting message produces a 56-kD fusion protein in which aa 1-196 of IFT74 are replaced by 38 aa from aminoglycoside phosphotransferase encoded by aph7″ (Fig. 1B and E). We named this allele ift74-1 and the resulting truncated protein IFT74Δ196h.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

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Identification of two IFT74 mutants. A) In strain BB12, the ift74-1 allele includes a partially concatameric hygromycin-resistance cassette inserted in exon 2. One complete aph7″ cassette is flanked by two partial cassettes in the same orientation. The partial cassette on the 3’ end of the insert contains a β-tubulin promoter (arrow) fused in frame to IFT74. In strain 11C#3, the ift74-2 allele has an insert in the last IFT74 exon. The wild-type rescuing genomic fragment and the sequence used to generate the IFT74 antibody [4] are indicated. B) and C) Western blots of whole-cell lysates probed with IFT74 antiserum and with a βF1ATPase antiserum as a loading control. B) ift74-1 and the rescued ift74-1 IFT74 cells express a truncated IFT74 protein of ~56 kD. Wild-type and ift74-1 IFT74 strains express full-length IFT74. C) No IFT74 is detected in ift74-2. D) Reverse-transcriptase PCR using the indicated primers (arrows, upper panel) confirmed that no IFT74 mRNA is detectable in ift74-2 (lower panel), indicating that ift74-2 is a null allele. E) Domain organization of wild-type and truncated IFT74 proteins. IFT74Δ130 (see Fig. 3) includes full-length coiled coils but lacks 130 aa of the charged N terminus. In IFT74Δ196h, expressed in ift74-1, the first 196 aa, including the highly basic N-terminus and 56 aa of coiled-coil 1, are replaced by 38 aa encoded by the aph7″ cassette. See also movies S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5.

The ift74-1 allele co-segregated with the hatching defect and abnormal flagellar assembly in two backcrosses, suggesting that this allele is responsible for the mutant phenotype. A progeny from the second backcross, hereafter strain ift74-1, was selected for further analysis. Strain ift74-1 was rescued by transformation with a 6.8-kb genomic fragment containing IFT74 (Fig. 1A). Strain R1, which expresses IFT74 from the transgene at near wild-type levels, was subsequently used as the rescued control and will be referred to as ift74-1 IFT74 (Fig. 1B and movie S4).

Strain 11C#3 contains a single aph7″ insertion in the last exon of IFT74 between codons 597 and 598 with no deletion of IFT74 genomic sequence (Fig. 1A). We named this allele ift74-2. No IFT74 is detected in 11C#3 (data not shown) or in progeny from 11C#3 backcrosses (Fig. 1C). Using reverse transcriptase PCR, we failed to detect full-length IFT74 mRNA or a shorter 5’ fragment (Fig. 1D). Therefore, ift74-2 is functionally a null allele. The same 6.8-kb fragment used to rescue ift74-1 rescued 11C#3, indicating that the hatching and flagellar assembly defect in ift74-2-containing strains is caused by the ift74-2 allele. The strain rescued by wild-type IFT74, hereafter named ift74-2 IFT74, expresses IFT74 at near wild-type levels (Fig. 1C) and assembles full-length flagella (Fig. 2A) (compare movies S3 and S5). Full details on the derivation of this strain and the ift74-2 strain used for the studies below are in Supplemental Experimental Procedures.

Figure 2.

Figure 2

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IFT74 is required for flagella assembly and stability of IFT-B proteins. A) Cells were grown under standard conditions and imaged with or without treatment with gametic autolysin to hatch them from the mother cell wall. Without autolysin, most ift74-2 cells are palmelloid. 70.7% of hatched cells had no detectable flagella, 26% had only stumps shorter than 1 μm, and 3.3% had flagella between 1 μm and 4 μm long (n=150). Transformation with IFT74 (ift74-2 IFT74) rescued the flagella assembly defect. B) Western blots of whole-cell lysates were probed with the indicated antibodies. Core (IFT81 and IFT46) and peripheral (IFT57 and IFT20) proteins were reduced by an average of eight fold relative to wild type in this representative sample. IFT172 and IFT25 were present at similar levels in ift74-2 and wild type. IFT-A levels were slightly increased in ift74-2. Ratios of protein bands in the three lanes are in parentheses. See also movies S1, S3, and S5.

IFT74 is required for flagellar assembly and IFT-B stability

To address the function of IFT74, we analyzed the null ift74-2 mutant. Under all growth conditions tested, ift74-2 cells were palmelloid. Since flagella are normally involved in hatching from the mother cell wall, we treated ift74-2 cells with gametic autolysin to hatch them and assessed their flagellation state. 96.7% of these cells had either no flagella or <1-μm long stumps (n=150; Fig. 2A). Of the other 3.3%, no cells had flagella longer than 4 μm. Western blotting of whole cells indicated that IFT-B is destabilized with both core and peripheral proteins dramatically reduced (Fig. 2B). Therefore, IFT74 is required to stabilize IFT-B and, as a result, is also required for flagella assembly. Consistent with previous results [16], IFT25 was not reduced when other IFT-B proteins were destabilized (Fig. 2B). IFT172 was also reduced much less severely than other IFT-B proteins (Fig. 2B). IFT-A levels were increased as is frequently seen in IFT-B mutants (e.g., [1]).

IFT74 aa 131-641 stabilize IFT-B in vivo and allow slow assembly of nearly full-length flagella

It has been proposed that the IFT74 N-terminal region (C.r. aa 1-132) preceding the first coiled-coil forms part of the IFT74/81-tubulin-binding module [15]. To test for a possible requirement for the IFT74 N-terminus in tubulin transport in vivo as well as to dissect this function from that of the IFT74 coiled-coil domains, we expressed in the ift74-2 null background a truncated IFT74 (IFT74Δ130) including complete predicted coiled-coil domains but lacking aa 1-130 (Fig. 1E). A representative clone, hereafter ift74-2 IFT74Δ130, was chosen for further analysis. The truncated protein was expressed at about wild-type level in ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 whole cells and was sufficient to stabilize IFT-B (Fig. 3A). This indicates a critical role for the IFT74 coiled-coil domains in IFT-B assembly in vivo. Importantly, ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 cells assemble nearly full-length flagella (Fig. 3B). Therefore, the N terminus of IFT74 is not required for tubulin entry into flagella.

Figure 3.

Figure 3

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IFT-B is stabilized and flagella assemble in the absence of IFT74 aa 1-130. A) Western blots of whole cells probed with the indicated antibodies. IFT74Δ130 is expressed at about wild-type levels in the null background and stabilizes IFT-B. B) ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 steady-state flagella are nearly wild-type length (avg. 81% of wild type in three preparations). C) Cells were deflagellated by pH shock and returned to neutral pH to allow them to regrow flagella. The initial rate of regeneration of ift74-2 IFT74 was 78% of the wild-type rate. The ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 initial rate was 22% of wild type (n=50 flagella/strain/time point). D) IFT velocities and frequencies were determined from kymographs of DIC movies (for anterograde velocity n>147 tracks/strain; for retrograde velocity n>224 tracks/strain; for frequencies n=12 flagella/strain). E) Western blots of isolated flagella probed with the indicated antibodies. In ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 flagella, IFT-A was slightly reduced whereas IFT-B was present at near wild-type levels. The reduction in retrograde IFT (panel D) resulted in slight accumulation of BBS4 in ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 flagella and reduced ability to remove PLD from the flagella. Ratios of protein bands in the three lanes are in parentheses. Data presented in panels B–D are mean +/− SD.

Following experimentally-induced deflagellation, Chlamydomonas cells regenerate flagella rapidly and synchronously. We took advantage of this to look for assembly defects not revealed by measuring steady-state flagella. Prior to deflagellation, ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 flagella were about 80% of the length of wild-type or ift74-2 IFT74 flagella. However, the initial rate of regeneration for ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 flagella was reduced to 22% and 29% that of wild-type and ift74-2 IFT74 flagella, respectively (Fig. 3C).

The reduced rate of flagellar regeneration in ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 cells could be due to a defect in loading a limiting cargo, such as tubulin, onto IFT trains or to a more basic defect in IFT, such as reduced injection frequency. To distinguish between these possibilities, we analyzed IFT by differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy (Fig. 3D). Consistent with their rapid rate of flagellar regeneration, ift74-2 IFT74 cells had only slightly subnormal IFT velocities and frequencies. Ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 cells also had only moderately reduced IFT velocities, but IFT frequencies were more severely reduced (to 75% and 55% of wild type for anterograde and retrograde, respectively; Fig. 3D). This 25% reduction in IFT injection frequency is unlikely to be sufficient to explain the observed 78% reduction in the initial rate of flagellar regeneration in ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 cells. Therefore, we conclude that there is a defect in IFT-cargo loading in this strain. These results are consistent with a model in which the IFT74 N terminus is involved in binding tubulin to IFT-B.

To determine whether changes in flagellar IFT protein levels accompanied the observed IFT frequency changes, we probed western blots of isolated flagella. While the level of IFT-B in ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 flagella was nearly normal, the level of IFT-A was reduced by ~50% (Fig. 3E) despite the fact that IFT-A levels are increased in the cell body (Fig. 3A). These results suggest that the observed reduction in retrograde frequency results from a reduction in IFT-A import into flagella. To test whether reduction in IFT-A leads to functional defects in retrograde IFT, we analyzed BBS4, which is part of the BBSome, a known IFT cargo adapter, and phospholipase D (PLD), a known BBSome cargo [9]. The BBSome requires IFT-A to export PLD from flagella via retrograde IFT [5]. We found that both BBS4 and PLD accumulated in ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 flagella (Fig. 3E), consistent with functional impairment of retrograde IFT. Therefore, IFT74 aa 1-130 are required for normal flagellar levels of IFT-A and normal retrograde IFT.

IFT74 aa 197-641 stabilize IFT-B in vivo

Predicted coiled-coil 1 of IFT74 interacts strongly with IFT81 in yeast-two hybrid assays, but the N-terminal part of coiled-coil 1 is not required for this interaction [13]. To examine this in vivo, we analyzed ift74-1, which expresses IFT74Δ196h lacking the protein’s N-terminus, including 56 aa from predicted coiled-coil 1. Western blots of whole-cell lysates indicated normal or elevated levels of IFT-B proteins in ift74-1 (Fig. 4A). We conclude that IFT74 aa 197-641 are sufficient to stabilize IFT-B in vivo.

Figure 4.

Figure 4

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IFT74 aa 197-641 also stabilize IFT-B but IFT is severely impaired. A) Western blots of whole cells were probed with the indicated antibodies. All IFT proteins are present in ift74-1 at or above wild-type levels. B) Most ift74-1 cells grown under standard conditions fail to assemble flagella and are unable to hatch from the mother cell wall, whereas ift74-1 cells grown without aeration assemble short flagella and hatch from the mother cell wall. Many ift74-1 flagella have bulges (arrow) that can appear near the flagellar base. The flagella assembly defect is rescued in ift74-1 IFT74 cells. C) Both flagella were measured on images of cells where the ends of both flagella were in focus. Data on ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 are from figure 3B. D) The ratio between the long and short flagellum was calculated for each cell. A histogram with bins of 0.2 is presented. All wild-type cells and 96% of ift74-2 ift74Δ130 cells but only 50% of ift74-1 cells had a long:short ratio between 1 and 1.2. E) Kymographs of IFT from video of live cells imaged by DIC. The base of the flagellum is at the bottom and time proceeds from left to right. Anterograde particles have a positive slope; retrograde particles have a negative slope. Some particles in ift74-1 reverse direction before reaching the flagellar tip (arrow). F) Quantification of IFT velocity and frequency; note that these data are only for flagella in which IFT was visible. Slopes of tracks were measured on kymographs similar to the ones in E. For anterograde velocity n (tracks) = 90 and 45 for wild type and ift74-1, respectively. For retrograde velocity n (tracks) = 142 and 23 for wild type and ift74-1, respectively. For frequencies, n (flagella) = 10 and 16 for wild type and ift74-1, respectively. Data in C and F are represented as mean +/− SD. P values were calculated with a Student’s t test. See also movies S1, S2, S4, S6, S7, and S8.

Flagellar assembly is severely defective in the absence of aa 1-196

To look for a possible function of the N-terminus of coiled-coil 1, we used DIC microscopy to analyze ift74-1 cells grown under our standard conditions. Whereas wild-type and rescued ift74-1 IFT74 cells grew normal-length flagella and hatched from the mother cell wall, ift74-1 cells almost completely lacked flagella and failed to hatch from the mother cell wall (Fig. 4B, lower left panel). This inability of aa 197-641 to promote normal flagellar assembly is in stark contrast to IFT74Δ130 (aa 131-641) which, as described above, supported growth of flagella that were about 80% wild-type length. Therefore, aa 131-196 are critical for flagellar assembly under normal conditions and this function is independent of the requirement of IFT74 for IFT-B stability.

IFT injection frequency is severely reduced in the absence of aa 1-196

Reduced aeration and exposure to hypoxia were previously shown to stimulate the assembly of cilia or flagella in mutants with partially defective IFT-B complexes [1, 17]. To understand the ift74-1 flagellar assembly defects, we attempted to induce flagellar growth by removing aeration. Under these conditions, nearly all ift74-1 cells assembled flagella, hatched, and either swam very slowly or spun in place (Fig 4B, lower right panel, and compare movies S2 and S6). For the remainder of this study, all experiments with ift74-1 were conducted with non-aerated cells. Importantly, ift74-2 cells do not grow flagella more frequently under these stressed conditions (data not shown). The mechanism of stress-induced flagellar growth is not understood. However, the differences in the ability to grow flagella between ift74-2 cells in which IFT-B is destabilized and ift74-1 cells in which IFT74Δ196h stabilizes IFT-B suggest that the stress response acts on intact, partially functional IFT-B complexes.

The ability of ift74-1 cells to grow flagella in the absence of aeration allowed us to observe these flagella by DIC, immunofluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) as well as to biochemically analyze isolated flagella. The ift74-1 flagella were only 40% and 50% as long as those of wild type or ift74-2 IFT74Δ130, respectively (Fig. 4C), indicating that even under stress conditions, the absence of aa 131-196 leads to severe assembly defects. Interestingly, whereas wild-type and ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 cells maintain two equal-length flagella per cell, ~50% of ift74-1 cells cannot maintain equal-length flagella (Fig. 4D). This indicates that ift74-1 cells are defective in the mechanism that coordinately regulates the length of the two flagella in wild-type cells [18, 19].

Although several models of flagellar length control have been proposed, they generally involve regulating the rate of injection of IFT trains into flagella or modulating the amount of cargo loaded on individual trains [2, 3, 18]. To understand the inability of ift74-1 cells to assemble longer flagella, we used DIC microscopy to analyze IFT frequency and velocity. Strikingly, in many ift74-1 flagella we were unable to observe any IFT movements, indicating a severe IFT injection defect. In the few flagella in which IFT was visible, IFT frequency was severely reduced in the mutant compared with both wild-type and ift74-1 IFT74 cells (Fig. 4E and 4F and compare movies S7 and S8). IFT velocity was less severely affected than injection frequency, with retrograde velocity affected more than anterograde velocity. Thus, IFT74 aa 197-641 are sufficient to stabilize IFT-B, but insufficient to support normal IFT injection frequency. Inasmuch as ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 has only moderately reduced injection frequency, we conclude that the N-terminal region of IFT74 coiled-coil 1 (aa 131-196) is critical for normal IFT injection and flagellar assembly.

IFT74 aa 131-196 are required for normal flagellar import of IFT-A

We used TEM and immunofluorescence microscopy to further understand the IFT defects in ift74-1 cells. By TEM, we observed bulges of aggregated electron-dense material between the flagellar membrane and the axoneme of ift74-1 cells (Fig. 5A) but not in wild type. This material is more amorphous than that which accumulates in mutants defective in dynein 1b; the accumulations in the latter often have a distinct periodic structure in longitudinal sections of flagella (compare figure 5A with figure 3d, e in Pazour et al., 1999 [20]). When wild-type cells were stained for immunofluorescence microscopy with antibodies against an IFT-B protein (IFT46) and an IFT-A protein (IFT139), as expected, they contained pools of both proteins around their basal bodies and in spots along their flagella (Fig. 5B, upper panels); these spots represent IFT trains containing both IFT-A and IFT-B. In contrast, many ift74-1 flagella showed aggregates of IFT-B only with little or no associated IFT-A (Fig. 5B, lower panels). Similar aggregates of another IFT-B protein (IFT20) tagged with mCherry were apparent in an ift74-1 ift20 IFT20-mCherry strain (Fig. S1A), and video analysis of living cells showed that these IFT20mCherry bulges were stationary (movie S9). This strongly suggests that the bulges seen by EM are stalled IFT-B proteins. The presence of IFT-B but not IFT-A in these aggregates likely accounts for their different ultrastructure compared to the dynein-1b mutant accumulations, which contain both IFT-A and IFT-B [21].

Figure 5.

Figure 5

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IFT74 aa 131-197 are required for flagellar import of IFT-A. A) Whole cells were fixed and stained for thin-section TEM. Aggregates of electron-dense material were occasionally visible between the axoneme and flagellar membrane (bars 200 nm). B) Cells were stained for immunofluorescence microscopy with anti-IFT46 (IFT-B) and anti-IFT139 (IFT-A) antibodies. Aggregates in ift74-1 flagella were almost exclusively IFT-B. Little or no IFT-A was detectable in ift74-1 flagella. C) Western blots of isolated whole flagella were probed with the indicated antibodies. IFT-B, much of which is in aggregates in flagella and not undergoing transport, was slightly elevated in this particular preparation of ift74-1, but usually was near wild-type levels. In ift74-1 flagella, anterograde (FLA10) and retrograde (DHC1b and D1bLIC) motor proteins were present at near wild-type levels, IFT-A proteins and BBS4 were dramatically reduced, and PLD accumulated due to the reduction in BBS4. D) Immunoprecipitation of HA-tagged IFT46 from flagellar M+M fraction. No IFT proteins were detectable in the immunoprecipitate from wild-type cells. IFT-B was intact in both ift46-1 IFT46-HA and ift74-1 ift46-1 IFT46-HA. Phosphorylated IFT25 was not detected in ift74-1 ift46-1 IFT46-HA. See also movie S9 and figures S1 and S2.

Our results also indicate that IFT-A levels are dramatically reduced in ift74-1 flagella as previously briefly reported [5]. In further support of this conclusion, western blots of isolated whole flagella probed with a panel of IFT antibodies indicated that IFT-B proteins are present in ift74-1 flagella at approximately wild-type levels, whereas IFT-A proteins are dramatically and consistently reduced (Fig. 5C). BBS4 levels are also reduced, while PLD levels are increased, as previously reported [5]. Quantitative analysis indicated that IFT-A and BBS4 are reduced by ~8–10 fold (Fig. S1B). Rescue of ift74-1 with wild-type IFT74 restores flagellar IFT-A and BBS4 to near wild-type levels with a concomitant decrease in PLD levels (Fig. 5C). The presence of IFT-A at or above wild-type levels in ift74-1 cells (Fig. 4A) rules out reduced expression of IFT-A proteins as an explanation for the reduction in flagellar IFT-A. Another possibility is a failure to deliver IFT-A to the basal body region. However, this is also not the case, since we clearly observed IFT139 in the ift74-1 basal body pool (Fig. 5B). We conclude that IFT74 aa 131-196 are critical for import of IFT-A into flagella and for maintenance of wild-type IFT injection frequency.

IFT-B and the retrograde IFT motor fail to exit ift74-1 flagella normally

The aggregation of stalled IFT-B proteins in ift74-1 flagella indicates that when IFT-B enters these flagella, it sometimes fails to exit. Thus, these cells have a retrograde IFT defect in addition to their injection defect. If the level of dynein 1b were reduced in these flagella, this might explain the retrograde defect. However, the retrograde motor protein subunits DHC1b and D1bLIC were present in ift74-1 flagella at wild-type levels (Fig. 5C). The biochemical results suggest either that the motor is entering and exiting the flagellum normally, or that it has stalled in the flagellum and aggregated to the same degree as IFT-B. To distinguish between these possibilities, we examined the distribution of DHC1b, IFT-A (IFT139), and IFT-B (IFT57) in wild-type and ift74-1 flagella by immunofluorescence microscopy (Fig. S2). In wild type, both IFT proteins generally co-localized with the retrograde motor in small puncta along the length of the flagella. In contrast, in ift74-1, most DHC1b was in the IFT57-containing bulges. Therefore, the motor is not likely to be entering and exiting normally. Rather, there may be a failure to properly activate the retrograde motor for export, possibly due to the greatly reduced level of IFT-A. Note also that the frequent lack of co-localization of DHC1b with the very small amount of IFT139 present in the ift74-1 flagella appears to rule out the possibility that IFT-A is entering normally but then being exported without IFT-B by the retrograde motor.

To determine whether the stalled IFT-B proteins represent intact IFT-B complexes, we first examined a strain expressing 3X-HA-tagged IFT46 (an IFT-B protein) in an ift46-1 mutant background. As predicted, immunoprecipitation from the flagellar membrane-plus-matrix (M+M) fraction with anti-HA antibodies co-immunoprecipitated multiple IFT-B proteins, including both core and peripheral proteins, none of which were precipitated from wild-type M+M lacking the HA-tagged IFT46 (Fig. 5D). We then generated a strain expressing the HA-tagged IFT46 in an ift74-1 ift46-1 double mutant. Immunoprecipitation from the M+M fraction of this strain co-precipitated the same IFT-B proteins as in the presence of wild-type IFT74 (Fig. 5D). These results indicate that IFT-B is intact in ift74-1 ift46-1 IFT46-HA flagella. Therefore, IFT74 aa 197-641 are sufficient to support IFT-B assembly and keep it assembled in the flagellum.

Although there is more IFT74Δ196h than wild-type IFT74 in ift74-1 IFT74 cell bodies (Fig. 1B), and IFT74Δ196h is incorporated into IFT-B and enters flagella in ift74-1 ift46-1 IFT46-HA cells (Fig. 5D), very little IFT74Δ196h enters ift74-1 IFT74 flagella in the presence of the wild-type protein (Fig. 5C). Therefore, IFT-B complexes containing wild-type protein are strongly selected over IFT-B complexes containing IFT74Δ196h for access to the IFT machinery.

IFT25 is a known phosphoprotein that forms a heterodimer with IFT27 that may undergo regulated phosphorylation and dephosphorylation [16]. IFT25/27 binds the IFT74/81 heterodimer in vitro [14, 22]. Intriguingly, we found that the upper band corresponding to the phosphorylated form of IFT25 was dramatically reduced in the ift74-1 ift46-1 IFT46-HA M+M and in the corresponding immunoprecipitated IFT74Δ196h-containing IFT-B (Fig. 5D). This indicates that the IFT74 N terminus is required for phosphorylation of IFT25 in vivo.

IFT-A and IFT-B mislocalize within the ift74-1 basal body IFT pool

Since both IFT-A and IFT-B are delivered to the ift74-1 basal body pool, we looked more closely within this pool for defects that could explain the reductions in flagellar IFT-A and IFT injection frequency. By wide-field epifluorescence microscopy of wild-type cells, we saw that, as previously described [1], IFT-B localized to two anterior pools (one per flagellum) presumably corresponding to the membrane-associated ends of the transition fibers [23], as well as to a more posterior semi-circular pool (Fig. 6Aa, c, and d and 6D). IFT-A co-localized with the transition-fiber IFT-B pool but not with the more posterior pool (Fig. 6Ab-d and 6D). The IFT-A pool was frequently more dispersed in ift74-1 than in wild-type and co-localized less extensively with IFT-B (Fig. 6Ae–l). We confirmed and extended these findings using SIM. Even with the added resolution, IFT-A and IFT-B extensively co-localized within the transition-fiber pool in wild type (Fig. 6B and Ca). In contrast, IFT-A and IFT-B almost completely failed to co-localize within the ift74-1 basal body pool (Fig. 6B and Cb). IFT-A localized at the extreme anterior end of the mutant cell (arrowhead in Fig. 6Cb), spread out along what appeared to be the inner surface of the plasma membrane in regions flanking the presumably transition-fiber-associated pool of IFT-B. In addition, the more posterior pool of IFT-B was often reduced or missing (Fig. 6B, 6Cb, and 6D). These results indicate that the N terminus of IFT74 is required for normal association of IFT-A and IFT-B within the basal-body IFT pool.

Figure 6.

Figure 6

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IFT-A is mislocalized within the basal body IFT pool in ift74-1. A) Cells were stained with anti-IFT46 (a, e, and i) and anti-IFT139 (b, f, and j) and were imaged using an epifluorescence microscope. Merged images of whole cells (c, g, and k) and enlarged basal body regions (d, h, and l) reveal that IFT139 is more dispersed in ift74-1 than in wild type. The contrast of both the IFT-A and IFT-B channels was increased for inset d to allow clearer visualization of the more posterior IFT-B pool, but the levels of IFT-A and IFT-B were not adjusted relative to each other. Panels e-h and i-l show similar mislocalization of IFT-A in two different representative cells. B and C) Cells stained as in A were imaged using SIM. B) Single optical Z-sections of whole cells. C) Z-series through enlarged basal body regions of the cells marked a and b in B. Asterisks in C indicate the Z-section corresponding to the single-section image in B. Arrows indicate IFT proteins associated with transition fibers (IFT-A and IFT-B in WT; only IFT-B in ift74-1). Arrowhead indicates the pool of IFT-A that fails to co-localize with IFT-B in ift74-1. D) Representation of the changes in localization of IFT-B and IFT-A in ift74-1 cells. In planar projections, IFT-A and IFT-B frequently co-localize in wild-type cells to an anterior bi-lobed structure likely corresponding to the transition fibers. IFT-B is also found in a more posterior pool. In ift74-1, IFT-A is more dispersed and frequently localized more anteriorly than the anterior pool of IFT-B, perhaps along the apical plasma membrane. The posterior pool of IFT-B is also reduced or absent in ift74-1. See also Figure S3.

The above conclusion predicts that, in the absence of IFT-B, IFT-A would be mislocalized as in ift74-1. To test this, we used SIM to examine IFT139 distribution in ift74-2 and bld1-1, both of which lack IFT-B (Fig. 2B and [24]). CEP290, which is located at the proximal end of the transition zone, very near the transition fibers [25, 26], was used as a fiducial marker. In both mutants, as in ift74-1, IFT139 was more broadly distributed and more apically located than in wild type (Fig. S3, A–D). When the basal bodies were viewed axially, IFT139 appeared as a halo surrounding a disk of CEP290 (Fig. S3, E–H). In the mutants, especially ift74-2 and bld1-1, the halo was larger and brighter than in wild type, and there was a gap between the IFT139 and CEP290 labels that likely corresponds to the region where the transition fibers terminate in the membrane near the transition zone. Frequently in wild type, and much less frequently in ift74-1, the IFT139 halo was incomplete, possibly reflecting recent injection of IFT trains into the flagellum (Fig. S3, I–L). These observations support our conclusion that IFT-B is required to recruit IFT-A to the transition fibers. We hypothesize that failure of IFT-A and IFT-B to associate at the transition fibers leads to the dramatic reduction in IFT injection rate in ift74-1.

DISCUSSION

Through the analysis of IFT74 insertional mutants, we have begun to dissect specific functions for this IFT-B protein. We found that IFT74 stabilizes IFT-B, leading to an almost complete failure to assemble flagella in an ift74 null mutant. By analyzing strains expressing truncated IFT74 proteins, we revealed specific functions for different regions of the protein (Fig. 7). We discovered that the C-terminal 445 aa of IFT74 are sufficient to stabilize IFT-B in vivo and that the N terminus is involved in the interaction between IFT-A and IFT-B required to form functional IFT trains. The N-terminal ~60 aa of IFT74 coiled-coil domain 1 are particularly critical for IFT-A/IFT-B association, normal IFT injection frequency, and import into the flagellum of IFT-A. We further observed that the N-terminal 130 aa of IFT74 may be involved in but are not absolutely required for tubulin entry into flagella. These results provide new mechanistic insights into IFT74 function with important implications for stability of IFT-B, IFT train assembly and remodeling, and cargo trafficking. Our interpretations of our results are summarized in figure 7A and our conclusions regarding IFT74 functional domains are summarized in figure 7B.

Figure 7.

Figure 7

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A) Model for IFT train assembly. In wild-type cells: a) IFT-A is initially delivered to the apical plasma membrane. IFT-B is present in a posterior pool surrounding the proximal ends of the basal bodies. b) IFT-B rapidly moves from the posterior pool to the transition fibers, where it recruits IFT-A for train assembly and waits for injection into flagella. c) Trains carrying cargo, including tubulin, are moved into the flagellum by kinesin-2. d and e) At the tip of the flagellum tubulin and other cargoes are released and IFT-A, IFT-B, and motors are re-organized into retrograde trains that are carried back to the cell body by dynein 1b. f) As trains re-enter the cell body IFT-A and IFT-B separate. IFT-B returns transiently to the posterior pool. In ift74-1 cells (expressing IFT74Δ196h): g) IFT-B binds to the transition fibers as in wild type, but weakened IFT-A/IFT-B association lessens recruitment of IFT-A to the fibers and leads to accumulation of IFT-A along the apical plasma membrane. h) A few trains containing mostly IFT-B are carried into flagella by kinesin-2; these trains probably contain reduced amounts of tubulin as cargo. i and j) Dramatically reduced flagellar IFT-A, which may be necessary to activate dynein for retrograde IFT, leads to stalling of IFT-B along the flagellar length. k) The low rate of injection combined with stalling of IFT-B in the flagella reduces cycling of IFT-B through the flagella, leading to failure to replenish the IFT-B pool at the proximal end of the basal body rapidly enough to replace IFT-B being redistributed onto the transition fibers.

B) Proposed IFT74 functional domains. IFT74 aa 196-641 are capable of stabilizing IFT-B assembly in vivo. There appears to be a gradient of requirement for the IFT74 N terminus for binding of IFT-B to IFT-A. Amino acids 1-130 are required for normal IFT-A/IFT-B association as their absence leads to a slight reduction in flagellar IFT-A. The further loss of aa 131-196 leads to a much more severe decrease in flagellar IFT-A levels and reduced injection frequency. IFT74 aa 1-130 are not required for tubulin entry into flagella, but are required for a normal rate of flagellar assembly. Therefore, it is likely that some cargo (possibly tubulin) that is rate-limiting for flagellar assembly is transported at a reduced rate in the absence of IFT74 aa1-130.

IFT74 is required for assembly of IFT-B

Absence of IFT74 in the null mutant ift74-2 led to dramatically reduced whole-cell levels of multiple IFT-B proteins and a resulting almost complete failure to assemble flagella. The flagellar assembly defect is in agreement with lentiviral shRNA knockdown of IFT74 in murine embryonic skin which nearly eliminated cilia in infected cells [27], but is in contrast to the relatively robust cilia assembly in neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans ift74 mutants [28], indicating possible differences in IFT74 function in worms. Neither of these other studies addressed possible biochemical defects in IFT complexes. We found that both core (IFT81 and IFT46) and peripheral (IFT57 and IFT20) IFT-B proteins were reduced, most likely indicating degradation of these proteins when IFT-B is unable to assemble. In contrast, IFT172 and IFT25 were present at or above wild-type levels in the null mutant. The stability of IFT172 and IFT25 is consistent with previous results showing that these two proteins behave differently than other IFT-B proteins [24, 29, 30], possibly because they can occur in subcomplexes outside of IFT-B [16, 29]. Taken together, our results indicate that IFT74 is essential for flagellar assembly because it is required to stabilize IFT-B.

IFT74 aa 197-641 are sufficient to stabilize IFT-B but not for full IFT74 function

Unlike the ift74-2 null mutant, cells expressing either IFT74Δ130 or IFT74Δ196h were able to assemble flagella. In both of these strains, IFT-B is stabilized by the truncated IFT74 and enters flagella. Although cells expressing only IFT74Δ196h have intact IFT-B in their flagella, the flagella are much shorter and IFT injection rate is much lower relative to cells expressing only IFT74Δ130. This indicates that IFT-B containing IFT74Δ196h enters flagella at a reduced frequency. Consistent with this, IFT-B containing wild-type IFT74 preferentially enters flagella when IFT-B containing IFT74Δ196h is present. Therefore, the C-terminal 445 aa are sufficient to stabilize IFT-B, but are not sufficient to support normal injection of IFT trains into flagella.

IFT74 N terminus is not required for tubulin entry into flagella

Recent work has demonstrated that tubulin moves to the tips of assembling flagella primarily via IFT [3]. Based on their in vitro analyses, Bhogaraju et al. [15] proposed that the N terminus of IFT74 binds to β-tubulin for tubulin transport by IFT. Our results showing that ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 cells assemble nearly full-length flagella clearly indicate that tubulin can enter flagella in the absence of IFT74 aa 1-130. However, ift74-2 IFT74Δ130 cells have dramatically reduced rates of flagella assembly. Since these cells have only slightly reduced injection rates, we hypothesize that there is reduced loading of some limiting cargo onto IFT trains in the absence of the N-terminal 130 aa of IFT74. This limiting cargo could be tubulin. Therefore, our results are consistent with a model in which IFT74 aa 1-130 are part of a tubulin-binding site on IFT-B.

In theory, the slow flagellar growth in the absence of the IFT74 N-terminus could be due to tubulin entering the flagellum by diffusion [3, 31]. It is also possible that most of the tubulin is transported by IFT. If tubulin import still occurs via IFT, low-affinity binding of tubulin to IFT81 in the absence of the IFT74 N-terminus may be sufficient to support slow flagellar growth. Alternatively, there may be one or more additional tubulin-binding sites on IFT-B [32].

IFT74 N terminus is required to assemble trains containing IFT-A and IFT-B

Our results indicate that IFT74 aa 131-196 are required for normal association of IFT-A and IFT-B within the basal body IFT pool and for normal import of IFT-A into flagella. We conclude that IFT-B containing IFT74Δ196h binds IFT-A with lower affinity than does wild-type IFT-B, and that the decreased association of IFT-A and IFT-B at the flagellar base in turn leads to the observed decrease in IFT-A import into flagella. We propose the following model for IFT-A/IFT-B interaction and IFT train assembly (Fig. 7): In wild type, IFT-B in the basal body pool binds to the transition fibers at the base of the flagellum and then recruits IFT-A in an interaction dependent upon IFT74 aa 131-196. Properly assembled IFT trains containing IFT-A and IFT-B then enter the flagellum. In the absence of IFT74 aa 131-196, IFT-B still binds to the transition fibers, but IFT-A is no longer recruited to IFT-B. In the near absence of IFT-A, few trains are assembled or enter flagella, and those that do enter contain reduced amounts of IFT-A. An important prediction of this model is that import of IFT-A is dependent upon binding to IFT-B, and that IFT trains with an abnormal IFT-A/IFT-B ratio have a reduced probability of being injected into flagella.

Concurrent with the above defects, IFT-B is present in ift74-1 flagella at near wild-type levels, but most is stalled in large aggregates. The levels of both anterograde and retrograde motors are near normal in the mutant flagella and the retrograde motor is present in the IFT-B aggregates, suggesting that the stalling is due to failure to activate the motor for retrograde transport. The simplest explanation for the stalling is that IFT-A is required to return IFT-B to the basal-body pool. This would be consistent with observations that IFT-B accumulates in the short cilia and flagella that assemble in null or severe hypomorphic IFT-A mutants [33, 34].

IFT-B in ift74-1 does not redistribute from the basal body pool to the flagella to the same massive extent as IFT-A and IFT-B do in retrograde motor mutants, where anterograde IFT is likely to be unimpaired but the absence or severe reduction in dynein 1b completely or almost completely eliminates retrograde IFT [20, 35]. In ift74-1, the presence in the flagellum of dynein 1b plus a small amount of IFT-A supports some retrograde IFT (Figure 4F) and, in combination with reduced injection frequency, limits the accumulation of IFT-B in the flagellum. Nevertheless, because the rate of cycling of IFT-B through the flagellum is greatly reduced, it may be insufficient to replenish the IFT-B-only posterior basal body pool as IFT-B moves from that pool to the transition fibers in preparation for injection into the flagellum.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

Culture conditions

Except where noted otherwise, all cultures were grown in liquid M medium [36] modified to include 2.2 mM KH2PO4 and 1.71 mM K2HPO4. Cultures were aerated with 5% CO2 + 95% air and were maintained on a 14/10 h light/dark cycle. For most experiments, ift74-1 and the corresponding control cells were incubated overnight without aeration to induce flagellar assembly.

Insertional mutagenesis and identification of insertion sites

Insertional mutagenesis was carried out as described previously [37]. Briefly, hygromycin-resistant pHyg3 [38] transformants were transferred to liquid medium and screened for defective swimming. Insertion sites were identified using RESDA-PCR combined with DNA sequencing [37, 39]. Rescue transformations were carried out by electroporation as described [37].

Flagella isolation

Except where noted, flagella were isolated using the dibucaine method [40]. Treatment with 1% NP40 in HMEK followed by centrifugation for 20 min at 16,000 rpm in an SS34 rotor (30,590 RCF; Sorvall) fractionated flagella into M+M and axonemal fractions.

Microscopy

IFT frequency and velocity were determined as previously described [25]. Epifluorescence imaging was done on an Axioskop II plus microscope with a 100x Plan-Apochromat 1.4 NA objective and a digital charge-coupled device MrM camera (Carl Zeiss, Inc.). SIM was performed on cells prepared as for epifluorescence using a DeltaVision OMX system (GE Healthcare) with a 1.42 NA 60x Plan-Apochromat objective (Olympus) using immersion oil with and index of refraction of either 1.512 or 1.514. SIM images were reconstructed with softWoRx 6.1.3 (GE Healthcare) using a Wiener filter constant of 0.003 and registered using the GE Healthcare target registration slide. For flagella length measurements, phase contrast images of glutaraldehyde-fixed cells were collected on the Axioskop II described above using a 40x Plan-NEOFLUAR 0.75 NA objective and the MrM camera (Carl Zeiss, Inc.). To visualize flagella on ift74-2, cells were treated with gametic autolysin [41] until clumps dissociated, indicating removal of the mother cell wall (~10 min), and then immediately fixed with 1% glutaraldehyde and imaged using DIC with the Axioskop II plus microscope described above.

Supplementary Material

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HIGHLIGHTS.

  • IFT74 is required for IFT-B stability and flagella assembly

  • The N terminus of IFT74 coiled-coil 1 is required for recruitment of IFT-A to IFT-B

  • Impaired IFT-A/IFT-B interaction in the cell body reduces IFT injection frequency

  • IFT74 sequence prior to coiled-coil 1 is not required for tubulin to enter flagella

Acknowledgments

We thank Paul Furcinitti for assistance with SIM, Gregory Hendricks and Lara Strittmatter for assistance with thin sectioning for TEM, and Clive Standley and Karl Bellve for assistance with fluorescence video microscopy; all of the above are at UMMS. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant numbers R37 GM030626 (G.B.W.), F32 GM093650 (J.M.B.), and T32 HD007312 (J.M.B.) and by the Robert W. Booth Endowment at UMMS (G.B.W.).

ABBREVIATIONS LIST

DIC

differential interference contrast microscopy

IFT

intraflagellar transport

M+M

membrane plus matrix

PLD

phospholipase D

RESDA-PCR

restriction enzyme site-directed amplification PCR

SIM

super-resolution structured illumination microscopy

TEM

transmission electron microscopy

Footnotes

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

All authors contributed ideas for the design of experiments. J.M.B. isolated the BB12 mutant and planned and carried out most experiments, D.A.C. identified the insertion site in the BB12 mutant and carried out some biochemical experiments, T.K. isolated the 11C#3 mutant, and T.K. and B.C. helped with SIM. J.M.B. and G.B.W. wrote the manuscript.

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