Characterizing the role of Zn cluster family transcription factor ZcfA in governing development in two Aspergillus species

Son, Ye-Eun; Cho, He-Jin; Lee, Mi-Kyung; Park, Hee-Soo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228643

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…For ST production, fungal strains were incubated in liquid complete medium (CM) at 30 °C for 7 days. To examine the effects of hbxA overexpression, solid MMG (non-inducing), MM with 100 mM threonine (MMT, inducing), or YLC (0.1% yeast extract, 1.5% lactose, 30 mM cyclopentanone) media were used 53 . Escherichia coli DH5α cells were grown in Luria-Bertani medium with ampicillin (100 μg/ml) for plasmid amplification.…”

Section: The Distribution Phylogenetic Analyses and Sequence Logos mentioning

confidence: 99%

Homeobox proteins are essential for fungal differentiation and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans

Son

Cho

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The homeobox domain-containing transcription factors play an important role in the growth, development, and secondary metabolism in fungi and other eukaryotes. In this study, we characterized the roles of the genes coding for homeobox-type proteins in the model organism Aspergillus nidulans. to examine their roles in A. nidulans, the deletion mutant strains for each gene coding for homeoboxtype protein were generated, and their phenotypes were examined. Phenotypic analyses revealed that two homeobox proteins, HbxA and HbxB, were required for conidia production. Deletion of hbxA caused abnormal conidiophore production, decreased the number of conidia in both light and dark conditions, and decreased the size of cleistothecia structures. Overexpressing hbxA enhanced the production of asexual spores and formation of conidiophore under the liquid submerged conditions. The hbxB deletion mutant strains exhibited decreased asexual spore production but increased cleistothecia production. The absence of hbxB decreased the trehalose content in asexual spores and increased their sensitivity against thermal and oxidative stresses. The ΔhbxA strains produced more sterigmatocystin, which was decreased in the ΔhbxB strain. Overall, our results show that HbxA and HbxB play crucial roles in the differentiation and secondary metabolism of the fungus A. nidulans.Aspergillus nidulans is a model filamentous fungus commonly used for the understanding of the genetics and molecular biology of fungal development and secondary metabolism 1-3 . The reproductive cycle of A. nidulans can be divided into two phases as asexual and sexual 4,5 . This fungus forms specialized developmental structures, which were used to designate the name of this fungus. Under the conditions that induce asexual reproduction, A. nidulans forms typical aspergillum-like structures called conidiophores, which contain a vesicle each, metulae, phialides, and conidia 6-8 . During the sexual cycle, A. nidulans (anamorph: Emericella nidulans) produces the nest-like sexual fruiting body called cleistothecium 9,10 . The formation of asexual or sexual structures involves sophisticated molecular events that are regulated by a variety of elements, especially transcription factors 4,5 .Transcription factors have sequence-specific DNA-binding motifs and control the transcription levels of target genes 11 . To date, approximately 80 transcription factor families have been described in the fungal genome 12 . These transcription factors positively or negatively control gene expression during fungal development 5 . Several developmental activators (e.g., FlbB, FlbC, FlbD, and FlbE) or repressors (e.g., SfgA and NsdD) are involved in the activation of BrlA, an essential transcription factor initiating conidia formation and the asexual cycle 6,13,14 . BrlA contains a C 2 H 2 zinc finger DNA-binding domain and controls the transcription of abaA, a key gene involved in the mid phase of conidiogenesis [15][16][17] . AbaA mainly governs the differentiation of phialides and activates the sp...

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Section: The Distribution Phylogenetic Analyses and Sequence Logos mentioning

confidence: 99%

Homeobox proteins are essential for fungal differentiation and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans

Son

Cho

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…In addition, follow-up studies identified the functions of some target genes and these results provide some clues to elaborate on how these TFs can control spore formation and maturation 29 . For example, the VosA-VelB complex controls the expression of fksA , mtfA , sclB , and vadA , thereby fine-tuning β-glucan synthesis, secondary metabolism, oxidative response, and conidial pigmentation 29 , 31 – 33 , 39 – 41 . This study further expands the VosA/VelB-mediated regulatory networks involving McrA in A. nidulans .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Velvet activated McrA plays a key role in cellular and metabolic development in Aspergillus nidulans

Lee

Son

Park

et al. 2020

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McrA is a key transcription factor that functions as a global repressor of fungal secondary metabolism in Aspergillus species. Here, we report that mcrA is one of the VosA-VelB target genes and McrA governs the cellular and metabolic development in Aspergillus nidulans. The deletion of mcrA resulted in a reduced number of conidia and decreased mRNA levels of brlA, the key asexual developmental activator. In addition, the absence of mcrA led to a loss of long-term viability of asexual spores (conidia), which is likely associated with the lack of conidial trehalose and increased β-(1,3)-glucan levels in conidia. In supporting its repressive role, the mcrA deletion mutant conidia contain more amounts of sterigmatocystin and an unknown metabolite than the wild type conidia. While overexpression of mcrA caused the fluffy-autolytic phenotype coupled with accelerated cell death, deletion of mcrA did not fully suppress the developmental defects caused by the lack of the regulator of G-protein signaling protein FlbA. On the contrary to the cellular development, sterigmatocystin production was restored in the ΔflbA ΔmcrA double mutant, and overexpression of mcrA completely blocked the production of sterigmatocystin. Overall, McrA plays a multiple role in governing growth, development, spore viability, and secondary metabolism in A. nidulans.

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“…Discovered and characterized recently in A. flavus and A. nidulans , this Zn2Cys6 TF is essential for the balance between sexual and asexual reproduction. The authors showed that its level of transcripts increased in the Δ vosA mutant of each species [ 75 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The brlA Gene Deletion Reveals That Patulin Biosynthesis Is Not Related to Conidiation in Penicillium expansum

Zetina-Serrano

Rocher

Naylies

et al. 2020

IJMS

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Dissemination and survival of ascomycetes is through asexual spores. The brlA gene encodes a C2H2-type zinc-finger transcription factor, which is essential for asexual development. Penicillium expansum causes blue mold disease and is the main source of patulin, a mycotoxin that contaminates apple-based food. A P. expansum PeΔbrlA deficient strain was generated by homologous recombination. In vivo, suppression of brlA completely blocked the development of conidiophores that takes place after the formation of coremia/synnemata, a required step for the perforation of the apple epicarp. Metabolome analysis displayed that patulin production was enhanced by brlA suppression, explaining a higher in vivo aggressiveness compared to the wild type (WT) strain. No patulin was detected in the synnemata, suggesting that patulin biosynthesis stopped when the fungus exited the apple. In vitro transcriptome analysis of PeΔbrlA unveiled an up-regulated biosynthetic gene cluster (PEXP_073960-PEXP_074060) that shares high similarity with the chaetoglobosin gene cluster of Chaetomium globosum. Metabolome analysis of PeΔbrlA confirmed these observations by unveiling a greater diversity of chaetoglobosin derivatives. We observed that chaetoglobosins A and C were found only in the synnemata, located outside of the apple, whereas other chaetoglobosins were detected in apple flesh, suggesting a spatial-temporal organization of the chaetoglobosin biosynthesis pathway.

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Characterizing the role of Zn cluster family transcription factor ZcfA in governing development in two Aspergillus species

Cited by 20 publications

References 60 publications

Homeobox proteins are essential for fungal differentiation and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans

Homeobox proteins are essential for fungal differentiation and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans

Velvet activated McrA plays a key role in cellular and metabolic development in Aspergillus nidulans

The brlA Gene Deletion Reveals That Patulin Biosynthesis Is Not Related to Conidiation in Penicillium expansum

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