Asexual Sporulation in Mycelial Fungi

WetA Is Required for Conidiogenesis and Conidium Maturation in the Ascomycete Fungus Fusarium graminearum

“…Further sequencing analysis of the cDNA revealed that F. graminearum wetA (FgwetA) does not contain introns and that the deduced ORF from the F. graminearum Genome Database is correct. A previous comparative genomic analysis for regulators of A. nidulans conidiogenesis also showed that the F. graminearum genome contains a 608-amino-acid WetA ortholog (1). In addition, the FgwetA transcript contains a ϳ500-bp 5= untranslated region (5= UTR) and a 1,000-bp 3= UTR.…”

“…Spores are produced asexually or sexually, depending on the fungal species and environmental conditions. Various mechanisms of spore formation and diverse spore types have evolved, suggesting their importance in the life cycles of fungi (1).…”

“…Decades of A. nidulans research have revealed the genetic and biochemical pathways for asexual sporulation, which have been summarized in several reviews (1)(2)(3)(4). Studies have also dissected the molecular mechanisms of conidiogenesis in Aspergillus and Penicillium species, which are evolutionarily related to A. nidulans (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12).…”

Intraspecific Variation and Interspecific Differences in the Bacterial and Fungal Assemblages of Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Parus major) Nests

“…However, it should be noted that the swab method of sampling could bias analyses toward microbes that are easily removed from the nesting material. The possibility of underestimating fungi using this sampling method (because of the potential for stronger attachment to the nest material by hyphae) is unlikely for species that were sporulating, since spores are usually easily detachable from hyphae, but cannot be discounted for species that explicit culturable viability following mycelial fragmentation [21]. Two air swabs (swabs exposed to the air for the same time as the swabbing procedure) were taken as experimental controls [32].…”

Beyond Asexual Development: Modifications in the Gene Expression Profile Caused by the Absence of the Aspergillus nidulans Transcription Factor FlbB

“…Some of them are specific to the morphogenetic process and control the later stages leading to conidia production. brlA, the first development-specific transcription factor; abaA; and wetA constitute the backbone of the central developmental pathway (CDP) and regulate the expression of genes involved in the correct spatiotemporal formation of the conidiophore cell types (Park and Yu 2012).The specialization of vegetative hyphae into asexual reproductive structures is induced by exogenous and endogenous stimuli (Fischer and Kües 2006). This requires the existence of an efficient genetic mechanism to guarantee that these cues are correctly transduced into signals that activate the CDP.…”