Project description:In eukaryotes, methylation of histone H3 at lysine 4 (H3K4me) catalyzed by the complex of proteins associated with Set1 (COMPASS) is crucial for the transcriptional regulation of genes and the development of organisms. In Monascus, the functions of COMPASS in establishing H3K4me remain unclear. This study first identified the conserved COMPASS core subunits MpSet1 and MpSwd3 in Monascus purpureus and confirmed their roles in establishing H3K4me2/3. Loss of MpSet1 and MpSwd3 resulted in slower growth and development and inhibited the formation of cleistothecia, ascospores, and conidia. The loss of these core subunits also decreased the production of extracellular and intracellular Monascus pigments (MPs) by 94.2%, 93.5%, 82.7%, and 82.5%, respectively. In addition, RNA high-throughput sequencing and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) showed that the loss of MpSet1 and MpSwd3 altered the expression of 2646 and 2659 genes, respectively, and repressed the transcription of MPs synthesis-related genes. In addition, the ΔMpset1 and ΔMpswd3 strains demonstrated increased sensitivity to cell wall stress with the downregulation of chitin synthase-coding genes. These results indicated that the COMPASS core subunits MpSet1 and MpSwd3 help establish H3K4me2/3 for growth and development, spore formation, and pigment synthesis in Monascus. These core subunits also assist in maintaining cell wall integrity.
Project description:In this study, we performed an RNA-Seq transcriptomic analysis concerning acetic acid bacteria’s acid resistance mechanisms during a continuous and periodical industrial submerged vinegar fermentation process, where the acetic acid concentration fluctuates between ~8% and ~12%
Project description:Mycotoxin citrinin (CTN) is widely found in multiple types of grains in foods and feeds globally. CTN also contaminates Monascus-derived health supplements such as red yeast rice and red yeast extracts during the fermentation process, which are originally used for preventing cardiovascular diseases. A previous study has reported that CTN is cardiotoxic to zebrafish embryos during their development by interfering some cardiogenic genes and pathways, showing a potential risk of consuming CTN-contaminated foods and products. However, the cardiotoxic effects and the underlying mechanisms of CTN on mammalian cardiomyocytes remain unclear and need to be ellucidated. In this study, we performed RNA-seq experiments in order to investigate the transcriptomic alterations induced by CTN-exposed rat H9c2 cardiomyocytes. The transcriptome profiling we obtained may reveal some evidence regarding the toxic effects of CTN on cardiac phenotypes, chromosome segregation, tubulin arrangement, mitochondrial functioning, and stress responses, etc.
Project description:Zinc and magnesium were the essectial activators for bioenzyme. Here, we assayed single factor assays for the effect of zinc and magnesium for Monascus purpureus.Then, we carried out transcriptome assays to uncover molecular mechanism of the enhanced fermentability of bioethanol and pigments for M. purpureus under the optimal metal ion concentration.This work would provide the fermentation process for biofuels and biochemicals.