Induction of stalk and spore cell differentiation by cyclic AMP in slugs of Dictyostelium discoideum.

Multicellular masses of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, under conditions which ordinarily suppress cell differentiation, develop clusters of stalk cells and spore cells when implanted with Sephadex particles that had been soaked in 5 X 10(-3)M cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP). A possible relation exists between oxygen gradients, cyclic AMP gradients, and the pattern of morphogenesis and cell differentiation during fruiting.