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. 1989 Nov;91(3):1025–1029. doi: 10.1104/pp.91.3.1025

Effects of 3-(3,4-Dichlorophenyl)-1,1-Dimethylurea on the Cell Cycle in Euglena gracilis1

Muh-ching Yee 1,2, James C Bartholomew 1
PMCID: PMC1062112  PMID: 16667105

Abstract

The cell cycle of the photosynthetic unicellular alga Euglena gracilis growing in phototrophic medium is regulated by light. To investigate the relationship of this cell cycle response to light stimulated photosynthesis, we have tested the effect of the photosynthesis inhibitor 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) on Euglena cell cycle transit. While DCMU does not block light stimulated cells from entering the S phase of the cell cycle, it does inhibit the transit through G2/M. The specificity of this response and its relationship to photosynthesis was studied by looking at the effect of DCMU on dark grown wild-type cells, and on two bleached variants of Euglena (W3BUL and W10BSmL) that lack chloroplasts. The drug does block G2/M in these cells, but not entrance into the cell cycle. Our studies show that entrance of cells into the cell cycle from a quiescent state does not require active photosynthesis, and that DCMU has effects on G2/M transit that are independent of the photosynthetic capacity of the cells.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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