Abstract
The microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton is reorganized during myogenesis as individual myoblasts fuse into multinucleated myotubes. Although this reorganization has long been observed in cell culture, these findings have not been validated during development, and proteins that regulate this process are largely unknown. We have identified a novel postmitotic function for the cytokinesis proteins RacGAP50C (Tumbleweed) and Pavarotti as essential regulators of MT organization during Drosophila myogenesis. We show that the localization of the MT nucleator gamma-tubulin changes from diffuse cytoplasmic staining in mononucleated myoblasts to discrete cytoplasmic puncta at the nuclear periphery in multinucleated myoblasts, and that this change in localization depends on RacGAP50C. RacGAP50C and gamma-tubulin colocalize at perinuclear sites in myotubes, and in RacGAP50C mutants gamma-tubulin remains dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Furthermore, we show that the mislocalization of RacGAP50C in pavarotti mutants is sufficient to redistribute gamma-tubulin to the muscle fiber ends. Finally, myotubes in RacGAP50C mutants have MTs with non-uniform polarity, resulting in multiple guidance errors. Taken together, these findings provide strong evidence that the reorganization of the MT network that has been observed in vitro plays an important role in myotube extension and muscle patterning in vivo, and also identify two molecules crucial for this process.
