Project description:In filamentous ascomycete fungi, the utilization of alternate carbon sources is influenced by the zinc finger transcription factor CreA/CRE-1, which encodes a carbon catabolite repressor protein homologous to Mig1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In Neurospora crassa, deletion of cre-1 results in increased secretion of amylase and β-galactosidase. Here, we determined the CRE-1 regulon by investigating the transcriptome of a Δcre-1 strain compared to wild type when grown on Avicel versus minimal medium (MM). Our data provide comprehensive information on the CRE-1 regulon in N. crassa and contribute to deciphering the global role of carbon catabolite repression in filamentous ascomycete fungi during plant cell wall deconstruction.
Project description:In filamentous ascomycete fungi, the utilization of alternate carbon sources is influenced by the zinc finger transcription factor CreA/CRE-1, which encodes a carbon catabolite repressor protein homologous to Mig1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In Neurospora crassa, deletion of cre-1 results in increased secretion of amylase and β-galactosidase. Here, we determined the CRE-1 regulon by investigating the transcriptome of a Δcre-1 strain compared to wild type when grown on Avicel versus minimal medium (MM). Our data provide comprehensive information on the CRE-1 regulon in N. crassa and contribute to deciphering the global role of carbon catabolite repression in filamentous ascomycete fungi during plant cell wall deconstruction. Two-condition experiment (minimal medium vs. Avicel medium) of the Δcre-1 mutant strain compared to the wild type strain. Cy3 and Cy5 dye swaps were performed.
Project description:In filamentous fungi, arginine methylation has been implicated in morphogenesis, mycotoxin biosynthesis, pathogenicity, and stress response although the exact role of this posttranslational modification in these processes remains obscure. Here, we present the first genome-wide transcriptome analysis in filamentous fungi that compared expression levels of genes regulated by type I and type II protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs).
Project description:A transcriptomic assessment of a kinase deletion mutant (ΔmpkA) and a control strain revealed many cellular activities this kinase is impacting. Studies were conducted in the model filamentous fungi, Aspergillus nidulans¸ under rich growth conditions. MpkA is a known kinase involved in the cell wall integrity signaling pathway. This pathway is activated upon cell wall stress and regulates production of cell wall related genes. Here, fungi were grown under non-stressful conditions. The comparison between the control strain and the deletion mutant transcript levels revealed previously unknown functions, such as iron starvation, that MpkA may be involved with.
Project description:Copper (Cu) homeostasis has not been well-documented in filamentous fungi, especially extremophiles. Acidophilic fungus Acidomyces richmondensis MEY-1 has extremely high Cu tolerance among filamentous fungi, and the transcription factor ArAceA has been shown to be involved in this process. The ArAceA deletion mutant (ΔArAceA) exhibits specific growth defects at Cu concentrations of ≥ 10 mM. To gain genomic insight into the Cu tolerance mechanism and the role of ArAceA in Cu tolerance, we treated the ΔArAceA mutant and WT strains with or without 15 mM CuCl2 for 6 h. Transcriptional profiling analysis revealed that ΔArAceA mutant is transcriptionally more sensitive to Cu than the wild-type strain. Our findings provide insights into the molecular basis of Cu tolerance in acidophilic filamentous fungi.
Project description:In filamentous fungi, secondary metabolism is often linked with developmental processes such as conidiation. In this study we analyzed the link between secondary metabolism and conidiation in the main industrial producer of the β-lactam antibiotic penicillin, the ascomycete Penicillium chrysogenum. Therefore, we generated mutants defective in two central regulators of conidiation, the transcription factors BrlA and StuA, respectively. Inactivation of both BrlA and StuA blocked conidiation and altered hyphal morphology during growth on solid media, as shown by light and scanning electron microscopy, but did not affect biomass production during liquid submerged growth. Genome-wide transcriptional profiling identified a complex StuA- and BrlA-dependent regulatory network, including genes previously shown to be involved in development and secondary metabolism. Remarkably, inactivation of StuA, but not BrlA, drastically down-regulated expression of the penicillin biosynthetic gene cluster during solid and liquid submerged growth. In agreement, penicillin V production was wild type-like in BrlA-deficient strains but 99 % decreased in StuA-deficient strains during liquid submerged growth as shown by HPLC analysis. Thus, among identified regulators of penicillin V production StuA has the most severe influence. Over-expression of StuA increased the transcript levels of BrlA and AbaA (another developmental regulator), de-repressed conidiation during liquid submerged growth, but did not affect penicillin V productivity. Taken together, these data demonstrate an intimate but not exclusive link between regulation of development and secondary metabolism in P. chrysogenum. Transcriptomes of PcbrlA- and PcstuA- deletion mutants were compared with expression data from recipient strain deltaPcku70 as a control Mycelia from the transformants and the reference strain were harvested at successive stages of development for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.
