Project description:Drosophila melanogaster larvae and filamentous fungi both utilise organic material. Here they compete for resources. Filamentous fungi can defend themselves and their substrate from predation respectively competition by the production and excretion of secondary metabolites, including substances with antibiotic and insecticidal properties. To analyse the traits that enables D. melanogaster larvae to reduce the harmful effects of fungal secondary metabolites and to develop on fungal infested substrate we confronted larvae with a toxin-producing wild type of Aspergillus nidulans, with a toxin-production-impaired mutant strain of A. nidulans, and with sterigmatocystin, a highly toxic metabolite of A. nidulans. Early first instar larvae were transferred to breeding substrate inhabited by fungal colonies respectively inoculated with the purified mycotoxin or controls. After 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours of confrontation larvae were collected and samples prepared for whole transcriptome shotgun sequencing.
Project description:Experimental evolution was conducted using Drosophila melanogaster populations that developed as larvae on breeding substrate that was infested with Aspergillus nidulans wild type, A. nidulans toxin-impaired mutant strain delta-laeA, the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin, or on fungi and toxin free substrate. Overall population were reared under these conditions for 11 generations, where after each confrontation generation one relaxation generation (fungi and toxin free breeding substrate) was conducted. Nine generations after the last selection treatment, first instar larvae were confronted with 3 days old A. nidulans wild type colonies or control conditions. 24 hours after confrontation start larvae were collected. For each biological replicate 52 larvae were collected from 4 independent confrontation units, balanced design. Three populations per selection regime were conducted, resulting in: 2 conditions x 4 selection regimes x 3 biological replicates (equal to fly population) = 24 samples. Selection regimes: sCO= control; sWT= A. nidulans wild type; sLA= A. nidulans mutant strain; sST= Sterigmatocystin. confrontation condition: cCO= control; cWT= A. nidulans wild type.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of A. nidulans comparing starvation for 0 (reference), 12 and 24 h. The main objective was to identify genes specifically regulated during starvation by atmA and xprG. The results of the experiment were further validated by real-time PCR. Experimental procedure: Three A. nidulans strains were used in this study: WT, delta atmA and delta xprG. Strains were grown on minimal medium for 24 h (0 h starvation reference), then exposed to 12 and 24 h starvation. atmA: ATM, Ataxia-Telangiectasia mutated; Malavazi, I., Savoldi, M., Da Silva Ferreira, M. E., Soriani, F. M., Bonato, P. S., De Souza Goldman, M. H. and Goldman, G. H. (2007), Transcriptome analysis of the Aspergillus nidulans AtmA (ATM, Ataxia-Telangiectasia mutated) null mutant. Molecular Microbiology, 66: 74-99 (PMID 17880424). xprG: extracellular protease; Margaret E. Katz, Karen-Ann Gray, Brian F. Cheetham, (2006) The Aspergillus nidulans xprG (phoG) gene encodes a putative transcriptional activator involved in the response to nutrient limitation, Fungal Genetics and Biology, 43, 190-199 (PMID 16464624).
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE9275: A tri-species Aspergillus array (nidulans arrays) GSE9276: A tri-species Aspergillus array (niger arrays) GSE9277: A tri-species Aspergillus array (oryzae arrays) Keywords: SuperSeries Refer to individual Series
Project description:The study aims essentially at the characterisation of suberin degradation mechanisms by Aspergillus nidulans, at a fundamental level. Suberin is an important protective barrier in plant, thus the study of its biodegradation significantly impacts on phytopatology. In addition, fungal suberin degrading enzymes might provide important insights to develop new waste management, bioremediation and biodeterioration prevention strategies.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in Aspergillus nidulans OE::rsmA compared to wild-type RDIT9.32 (veA). A twelve array study using total RNA recovered from six separate cultures of Aspergillus nidulans wild-type RDIT9.32 (veA) and six separate cultures of Aspergillus nidulans overexpressing rsmA (restorer of secondary metabolism A), using custom-designed, four-plex arrays. The experiment was divided into two runs. In the first run, three biological replicates each of Aspergillus nidulans wild-type RDIT9.32 (veA) and Aspergillus nidulans carrying a plasmid overexpressing rsmA under the control of the gpdA promoter were assayed. In the second run, three biological replicates each of Aspergillus nidulans wild-type RDIT9.32 (veA) and Aspergillus nidulans overexpressing rsmA at the native locus under the control of the gpdA promoter were assayed.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in Aspergillus nidulans AN1599 (PbcR) overexpression mutant, compared to the FGSC A4 wild-type strain. Overexpression of the Zn(II)2Cys6 –type transcription factor, AN1599.4 (PbcR, pimaradiene biosynthetic cluster regulator), activates a secondary metabolite gene cluster in Aspergillus nidulans. Activation of the pathway in Aspergillus nidulans lead to a production of ent-pimara-8(14),15-diene.
Project description:Genetic and molecular evidence to support the hypothesis that fungal secondary metabolites play a significant role in protecting the fungi against fungivory is scarce. We investigated the impact of fungal secondary metabolites on transcript regulation of stress related expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of the Collembola Folsomia candida feeding on mixed vs. single diets. Aspergillus nidulans wildtype (WT; Ascomycota) able to produce secondary metabolites including sterigmatocystin (ST) and a knockout mutant with reduced secondary metabolism (A. nidulans ?LaeA) were combined with the high quality fungus Cladosporium cladosporioides as mixed diets or offered as single diets. We hypothesized that (i) A. nidulans WT triggers more genes associated with stress responses compared to the A. nidulans ?laeA strain with suppressed secondary metabolism, (ii) C. cladosporioides causes significantly different transcript regulation than the A. nidulans strains ?laeA and WT, and (iii) mixed diets will cause significantly different transcript expression levels than single diets. All three hypotheses are generally supported despite the fact that many functions of the affected ESTs are unknown. The results bring molecular evidence for the existence of a link between fungal secondary metabolites and responses in springtails supporting the hypothesis that fungal secondary metabolites act as a shield against fungivory. Twenty-three day old Folsomia candida were fed ad libitum for five days to fungal cuts respectively Cladosporium cladosporoides, Aspergillus nidulans WT, Aspergillus nidulans ?LaeA and two mixed diets of C.cladosporoides/A. nidulans WT (mix 1) and C. cladosporoides/A. nudlans ?LaeA (mix2) respectively. Four biological replicates were used for every treatment and a dye swap was used with the Cy3/Cy5 labels. This resulted in 20 samples which were analysed in 10 hybridisations executed in an interwoven loop design. The C. cladosporoides diet was used as the reference in the data analysis.