Dictyostelium discoideum cells sense their local density and retain nutrients when the cells are about to overgrow their food source

Abstract

Dictyostelium discoideum is a unicellular eukaryote that eats bacteria, and eventually overgrows the bacteria. D. discoideum cells accumulate extracellular polyphosphate (polyP), and the polyP concentration increases as the local cell density increases. At high cell densities, the correspondingly high extracellular polyP concentrations allow cells to sense that they are about to overgrow their food supply and starve, causing the D. discoideum cells to inhibt their proliferation. In this report, we show that high extracellular polyP inhibits exocytosis of undigested or partially digested nutrients. PolyP decreases cell membrane fluidity and plasma membrane recycling, and this requires the G protein-coupled polyP receptor GrlD, the polyphosphate kinase Ppk1, and the inositol hexakisphosphate kinase I6kA. PolyP did not affect random cell motility, cell speed, or F-actin levels. PolyP decreased membrane saturated fatty acids and altered lipid and protein contents in detergent-insoluble lipid microdomains. Together, these data suggest that D. discoideum cells use polyP as a signal to sense their local cell density and reduce cell membrane fluidity and membrane recycling, perhaps as a mechanism to retain ingested food when the cells are about to starve.