Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| long-read, whole-genome shotgun sequence data for five model organisms. | single molecule, real-time (smrt) sequencing from pacific biosciences is increasingly used in many areas of biological research including de novo genome assembly, structural-variant identification, haplotype phasing, mrna isoform discovery, and base-modification analyses. high-quality, public datasets of smrt sequences can spur development of analytic tools that can accommodate unique characteristics of smrt data (long read lengths, lack of gc or amplification bias, and a random error profile le ... | 2014 | 25977796 |
| biological significance of photoreceptor photocycle length: vivid photocycle governs the dynamic vivid-white collar complex pool mediating photo-adaptation and response to changes in light intensity. | most organisms on earth sense light through the use of chromophore-bearing photoreceptive proteins with distinct and characteristic photocycle lengths, yet the biological significance of this adduct decay length is neither understood nor has been tested. in the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa vivid (vvd) is a critical player in the process of photoadaptation, the attenuation of light-induced responses and the ability to maintain photosensitivity in response to changing light intensities. de ... | 2015 | 25978382 |
| involvement of mitochondrial proteins in calcium signaling and cell death induced by staurosporine in neurospora crassa. | staurosporine-induced cell death in neurospora crassa includes a well defined sequence of alterations in cytosolic calcium levels, comprising extracellular ca(2+) influx and mobilization of ca(2+) from internal stores. here, we show that cells undergoing respiratory stress due to the lack of certain components of the mitochondrial complex i (like the 51kda and 14kda subunits) or the ca(2+)-binding alternative nadph dehydrogenase nde-1 are hypersensitive to staurosporine and incapable of setting ... | 2015 | 26004627 |
| population genomic analyses reveal possible drivers of population divergence. | recent advances in sequencing technology and efficiency enable new and improved methods to investigate how populations diverge and species evolve. fungi have relatively small and simple genomes and can often be cultured in the laboratory. fungal populations can thus be sequenced for a relatively low cost, which makes them ideal for population genomic analyses. in several recent population genomic studies, wild populations of fungal model organisms and human pathogens have been analysed, for exam ... | 2015 | 26013991 |
| identification of allorecognition loci in neurospora crassa by genomics and evolutionary approaches. | understanding the genetic and molecular bases of the ability to distinguish self from nonself (allorecognition) and mechanisms underlying evolution of allorecognition systems is an important endeavor for understanding cases where it becomes dysfunctional, such as in autoimmune disorders. in filamentous fungi, allorecognition can result in vegetative or heterokaryon incompatibility, which is a type of programmed cell death that occurs following fusion of genetically different cells. allorecogniti ... | 2015 | 26025978 |
| suppressing the neurospora crassa circadian clock while maintaining light responsiveness in continuous stirred tank reactors. | neurospora crassa has been utilized as a model organism for studying biological, regulatory, and circadian rhythms for over 50 years. these circadian cycles are driven at the molecular level by gene transcription events to prepare for environmental changes. n. crassa is typically found on woody biomass and is commonly studied on agar-containing medium which mimics its natural environment. we report a novel method for disrupting circadian gene transcription while maintaining light responsiveness ... | 2015 | 26031221 |
| the n-linked outer chain mannans and the dfg5p and dcw1p endo-α-1,6-mannanases are needed for incorporation of candida albicans glycoproteins into the cell wall. | a biochemical pathway for the incorporation of cell wall protein into the cell wall of neurospora crassa was recently proposed. in this pathway, the dfg-5 and dcw-1 endo-α-1,6-mannanases function to covalently cross-link cell wall protein-associated n-linked galactomannans, which are structurally related to the yeast outer chain mannans, into the cell wall glucan-chitin matrix. in this report, we demonstrate that the mannosyltransferase enzyme och1p, which is needed for the synthesis of the n-li ... | 2015 | 26048011 |
| control of mrna stability in fungi by nmd, ejc and cbc factors through 3'utr introns. | in higher eukaryotes the accelerated degradation of mrnas harboring premature termination codons is controlled by nonsense-mediated mrna decay (nmd), exon junction complex (ejc), and nuclear cap-binding complex (cbc) factors, but the mechanistic basis for this quality-control system and the specific roles of the individual factors remain unclear. using neurospora crassa as a model system, we analyzed the mechanisms by which nmd is induced by spliced 3'-utr introns or upstream open reading frames ... | 2015 | 26048019 |
| structure of importin-α from a filamentous fungus in complex with a classical nuclear localization signal. | neurospora crassa is a filamentous fungus that has been extensively studied as a model organism for eukaryotic biology, providing fundamental insights into cellular processes such as cell signaling, growth and differentiation. to advance in the study of this multicellular organism, an understanding of the specific mechanisms for protein transport into the cell nucleus is essential. importin-α (imp-α) is the receptor for cargo proteins that contain specific nuclear localization signals (nlss) tha ... | 2015 | 26091498 |
| fluorescent markers for the spitzenkörper and exocytosis in zymoseptoria tritici. | fungal hyphae are highly polarized cells that invade their substrate by tip growth. in plant pathogenic fungi, hyphal growth is essential for host invasion. this makes polarity factors and secretion regulators potential new targets for novel fungicides. polarization requires delivery of secretory vesicles to the apical spitzenkörper, followed by polarized exocytosis at the expanding cell tip. here, we introduce fluorescent markers to visualize the apical spitzenkörper and the apical site of exoc ... | 2015 | 26092802 |
| transcription factor ads-4 regulates adaptive responses and resistance to antifungal azole stress. | azoles are commonly used as antifungal drugs or pesticides to control fungal infections in medicine and agriculture. fungi adapt to azole stress by rapidly activating the transcription of a number of genes, and transcriptional increases in some azole-responsive genes can elevate azole resistance. the regulatory mechanisms that control transcriptional responses to azole stress in filamentous fungi are not well understood. this study identified a bzip transcription factor, ads-4 (antifungal drug s ... | 2015 | 26100701 |
| endogenous small rna mediates meiotic silencing of a novel dna transposon. | genome defense likely evolved to curtail the spread of transposable elements and invading viruses. a combination of effective defense mechanisms has been shown to limit colonization of the neurospora crassa genome by transposable elements. a novel dna transposon named sly1-1 was discovered in the genome of the most widely used laboratory "wild-type" strain fgsc 2489 (or74a). meiotic silencing by unpaired dna, also simply called meiotic silencing, prevents the expression of regions of the genome ... | 2015 | 26109355 |
| epigenetics as an emerging tool for improvement of fungal strains used in biotechnology. | filamentous fungi are today a major source of industrial biotechnology for the production of primary and secondary metabolites, as well as enzymes and recombinant proteins. all of them have undergone extensive improvement strain programs, initially by classical mutagenesis and later on by genetic manipulation. thereby, strategies to overcome rate-limiting or yield-reducing reactions included manipulating the expression of individual genes, their regulatory genes, and also their function. yet, re ... | 2015 | 26115753 |
| a circadian oscillator in the fungus botrytis cinerea regulates virulence when infecting arabidopsis thaliana. | the circadian clock of the plant model arabidopsis thaliana modulates defense mechanisms impacting plant-pathogen interactions. nevertheless, the effect of clock regulation on pathogenic traits has not been explored in detail. moreover, molecular description of clocks in pathogenic fungi--or fungi in general other than the model ascomycete neurospora crassa--has been neglected, leaving this type of question largely unaddressed. we sought to characterize, therefore, the circadian system of the pl ... | 2015 | 26124115 |
| the bzip transcription factor hac-1 is involved in the unfolded protein response and is necessary for growth on cellulose in neurospora crassa. | high protein secretion capacity in filamentous fungi requires an extremely efficient system for protein synthesis, folding and transport. when the folding capacity of the endoplasmic reticulum (er) is exceeded, a pathway known as the unfolded protein response (upr) is triggered, allowing cells to mitigate and cope with this stress. in yeast, this pathway relies on the transcription factor hac1, which mediates the up-regulation of several genes required under these stressful conditions. in this w ... | 2015 | 26132395 |
| tuning the phase of circadian entrainment. | the circadian clock coordinates daily physiological, metabolic and behavioural rhythms. these endogenous oscillations are synchronized with external cues ('zeitgebers'), such as daily light and temperature cycles. when the circadian clock is entrained by a zeitgeber, the phase difference ψ between the phase of a clock-controlled rhythm and the phase of the zeitgeber is of fundamental importance for the fitness of the organism. the phase of entrainment ψ depends on the mismatch between the intrin ... | 2015 | 26136227 |
| live imaging of β-1,3-glucan synthase fks-1 in neurospora crassa hyphae. | the subcellular localization and dynamics of fks-1, the putative catalytic subunit of the β-1,3-glucan synthase complex, was analyzed in growing hyphae of neurospora crassa by live confocal microscopy. gfp-tagged fks-1 accumulated at the outer layer of the spitzenkörper (spk), and at the apical plasma membrane (pm). fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis revealed arrival of fks-1-containing carriers first at the immediate surroundings of the core region of the spk, and thereafter to ... | 2015 | 26150287 |
| structural and functional characterization of a lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase with broad substrate specificity. | the recently discovered lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (lpmos) carry out oxidative cleavage of polysaccharides and are of major importance for efficient processing of biomass. nclpmo9c from neurospora crassa acts both on cellulose and on non-cellulose β-glucans, including cellodextrins and xyloglucan. the crystal structure of the catalytic domain of nclpmo9c revealed an extended, highly polar substrate-binding surface well suited to interact with a variety of sugar substrates. the ability o ... | 2015 | 26178376 |
| metabolic impacts of using nitrogen and copper-regulated promoters to regulate gene expression in neurospora crassa. | the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa is a long-studied eukaryotic microbial system amenable to heterologous expression of native and foreign proteins. however, relatively few highly tunable promoters have been developed for this species. in this study, we compare the tcu-1 and nit-6 promoters for controlled expression of a gfp reporter gene in n. crassa. although the copper-regulated tcu-1 has been previously characterized, this is the first investigation exploring nitrogen-controlled nit-6 ... | 2015 | 26194204 |
| efficient production of xylitol from hemicellulosic hydrolysate using engineered escherichia coli. | a metabolically engineered escherichia coli has been constructed for the production of xylitol, one of the top 12 platform chemicals from agricultural sources identified by the us department of energy. an optimal plasmid was constructed to express xylose reductase from neurospora crassa with almost no inclusion bodies at relatively high temperature. the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent glucose phosphotransferase system (ptsg) was disrupted to eliminate catabolite repression and allow simultaneous u ... | 2015 | 26197036 |
| epigenetic and posttranslational modifications in light signal transduction and the circadian clock in neurospora crassa. | blue light, a key abiotic signal, regulates a wide variety of physiological processes in many organisms. one of these phenomena is the circadian rhythm presents in organisms sensitive to the phase-setting effects of blue light and under control of the daily alternation of light and dark. circadian clocks consist of autoregulatory alternating negative and positive feedback loops intimately connected with the cellular metabolism and biochemical processes. neurospora crassa provides an excellent mo ... | 2015 | 26198228 |
| [quantitative assessment of the combined effect of the nitrogen status, light and dehydration of mycelium on conidiation in neurospora crassa]. | we performed a quantitative assessment of the conidia yield in neurospora crassa in response to treatment with different conidiation effectors. depending on nitrogen source and intactness of nitrite reductase (nir) and nitrate reductase (nr), light and dehydration affected the number of viable conidia produced by the ascomycete. in most variants of the nitrogen status, the combined action of light and dehydration synergistically increased the conidia yield. conidiation in wild-type cells cultiva ... | 2015 | 26204777 |
| aspergillus glaucus aquaglyceroporin gene glpf confers high osmosis tolerance in heterologous organisms. | aquaglyceroporins (glpfs) that transport glycerol along with water and other uncharged solutes are involved in osmoregulation in myriad species. fungal species form a large group of eukaryotic organisms, and their glpfs may be diverse, exhibiting various activities. however, few filamentous fungal glpfs have been biologically investigated. here, a glpf gene from the halophilic fungus aspergillus glaucus (agglpf) was verified to be a channel of water or glycerol in xenopus laevis oocytes and was ... | 2015 | 26209670 |
| the phenotype of a phospholipase c (plc-1) mutant in a filamentous fungus, neurospora crassa. | in the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa, phospholipase c may play a role in hyphal extension at the growing tips as part of a growth-sensing mechanism that activates calcium release from internal stores to mediate continued expansion of the hyphal tip. one candidate for a tip-localized phospholipase c is plc-1. we characterized morphology and growth characteristics of a knockout mutant (ko plc-1) and a rip mutated strain (rip plc-1) (missense mutations and a nonsense mutation render the gene ... | 2015 | 26212074 |
| linear discriminant analysis identifies mitochondrially localized proteins in neurospora crassa. | besides their role as powerhouses, mitochondria play a pivotal role in the spatial organization of numerous enzymatic functions. they are connected to the er, and many pathways are organized through the mitochondrial membranes. thus, the precise definition of mitochondrial proteomes remains a challenging task. here, we have established a proteomic strategy to accurately determine the mitochondrial localization of proteins from the fungal model organism neurospora crassa. this strategy relies on ... | 2015 | 26215788 |
| two microtubule-plus-end binding proteins lis1-1 and lis1-2, homologues of human lis1 in neurospora crassa. | lis1 is a microtubule (mt) plus-end binding protein that interacts with the dynein/dynactin complex. in humans, lis1 is required for proper nuclear and organelle migration during cell growth. although gene duplication is absent from neurospora crassa, we found two paralogues of human lis1. we named them lis1-1 and lis1-2 and studied their dynamics and function by fluorescent tagging. at the protein level, lis1-1 and lis1-2 were very similar. although, the characteristic coiled-coil motif was not ... | 2015 | 26231681 |
| chemotropic sensing in fungus-plant interactions. | growth of fungal hyphae is guided by a variety of chemical gradients, including nutrients, mating pheromones or host compounds. over 100 years after chemotropism was first reported in fungus-plant interactions, our knowledge on the host signals, fungal receptors and cellular pathways is still rudimentary. genetic analysis in the model organisms saccharomyces cerevisiae and neurospora crassa has provided valuable insights into the chemotropic machinery of the fungal hypha. moreover, recent studie ... | 2015 | 26247120 |
| a tool set for the genome-wide analysis of neurospora crassa by rt-pcr. | neurospora crassa is an important model organism for filamentous fungi as well as for circadian biology and photobiology. although the community-accumulated tool set for the molecular analysis of neurospora is extensive, two components are missing: (1) dependable reference genes whose level of expression are relatively constant across light/dark cycles and as a function of time of day and (2) a catalog of primers specifically designed for real-time pcr (rt-pcr). to address the first of these we ... | 2015 | 26248984 |
| rapid ethanol production at elevated temperatures by engineered thermotolerant kluyveromyces marxianus via the nadp(h)-preferring xylose reductase-xylitol dehydrogenase pathway. | conversion of xylose to ethanol by yeasts is a challenge because of the redox imbalances under oxygen-limited conditions. the thermotolerant yeast kluyveromyces marxianus grows well with xylose as a carbon source at elevated temperatures, but its xylose fermentation ability is weak. in this study, a combination of the nadph-preferring xylose reductase (xr) from neurospora crassa and the nadp(+)-preferring xylitol dehydrogenase (xdh) mutant from scheffersomyces stipitis (pichia stipitis) was cons ... | 2015 | 26253204 |
| optimal codons in tremella fuciformis end in c/g, a strong difference with known tremella species. | tremella fuciformis is a popular edible fungus with fruiting bodies that can be produced in large quantities at low costs, while it is easy to transform and cultivate as yeast. this makes it an attractive potential bioreactor. enhanced heterologous gene expression through codon optimization would be useful, but until now codon usage preferences in t. fuciformis remain unknown. to precisely determine the preferred codon usage of t. fuciformis we sequenced the genome of strain tr26 resulting in a ... | 2015 | 26253954 |
| analysis of circadian rhythms in the basal filamentous ascomycete pyronema confluens. | many organisms use circadian clocks to adapt to daily changes in the environment. major insights into the molecular mechanisms of circadian oscillators have been gained through studies of the model organism neurospora crassa; however, little is known about molecular components of circadian clocks in other fungi. an important part of the n. crassa circadian clock is the frequency (frq) gene, homologs of which can be found in sordariomycetes, dothideomycetes, and leotiomycetes, but not eurotiomyce ... | 2015 | 26254031 |
| toward bioactive yet antibacterial surfaces. | the fabrication of antibacterial yet biocompatible and bioactive surfaces is a challenge that biological and biomedical community has faced for many years, while no "dream material" has been developed so far. the primary goal of this study was to establish an optimal range of ag concentration and its state of agglomeration in bioactive nanocomposite ticapcon films which would provide a strong bactericidal effect without compromising the material biocompatibility and bioactivity. to obtain sample ... | 2015 | 26255161 |
| expression, purification, refolding, and enzymatic characterization of two secretory phospholipases a₂ from neurospora crassa. | secretory phospholipase a2 (spla2) catalyzes the hydrolysis of sn-2 linkage in the glycerophospholipid, thereby releasing fatty acid and 1-acyl lysophospholipid. among spla2s from various organisms and tissues, group xiv fungal/bacterial spla2s are relatively less characterized compared to their mammalian counterparts. here we report cloning, recombinant expression, refolding, and enzymatic characterization of two spla2s, ncu06650 and ncu09423, from the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa. the ... | 2015 | 26272369 |
| cellobionic acid utilization: from neurospora crassa to saccharomyces cerevisiae. | economical production of fuels and chemicals from plant biomass requires the efficient use of sugars derived from the plant cell wall. neurospora crassa, a model lignocellulosic degrading fungus, is capable of breaking down the complex structure of the plant cell wall. in addition to cellulases and hemicellulases, n. crassa secretes lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (lpmos), which cleave cellulose by generating oxidized sugars-particularly aldonic acids. however, the strategies n. crassa emplo ... | 2015 | 26279678 |
| directed evolution of xylose specific transporters to facilitate glucose-xylose co-utilization. | a highly active xylose specific transporter without glucose inhibition is highly desirable in cost-effective production of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass. however, currently available xylose specific transporters suffer from low overall activity and most are inhibited by glucose. in this study, we applied a directed evolution strategy to engineer the xylose specific transporter an25 from neurospora crassa with improved xylose transportation capacity. after four rounds of directed evolutio ... | 2016 | 26284760 |
| deletion of homologs of the srebp pathway results in hyper-production of cellulases in neurospora crassa and trichoderma reesei. | the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa efficiently utilizes plant biomass and is a model organism for genetic, molecular and cellular biology studies. here, a set of 567 single-gene deletion strains was assessed for cellulolytic activity as compared to the wild-type parental strain. mutant strains included were those carrying a deletion in: (1) genes encoding proteins homologous to those implicated in the saccharomyces cerevisiae secretion apparatus; (2) genes that are homologous to those know ... | 2015 | 26288653 |
| involvement of the adaptor protein 3 complex in lignocellulase secretion in neurospora crassa revealed by comparative genomic screening. | lignocellulase hypersecretion has been achieved in industrial fungal workhorses such as trichoderma reesei, but the underlying mechanism associated with this process is not well understood. although previous comparative genomic studies have revealed that the mutagenic t. reesei strain rut-c30 harbors hundreds of mutations compared with its parental strain qm6a, how these mutations actually contribute to the hypersecretion phenotype remains to be elucidated. | 2015 | 26300971 |
| don't go with the cytoplasmic flow. | cytoplasmic streaming occurs in a variety of organisms, but its biological function is often unclear. in this issue of developmental cell, pieuchot et al. (2015) report that streaming creates subcellular compartments in the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa. nuclei immobilized within these compartments differentiate and may drive a compartment-specific genetic program. | 2015 | 26305589 |
| paramutation phenomena in plants. | paramutation is a particular epigenetic phenomenon discovered in zea mays by alexander brink in the 1950s, and then also found in other plants and animals. brink coined the term paramutation (from the greek syllable "para" meaning beside, near, beyond, aside) in 1958, with the aim to differentiate paramutation from mutation. the peculiarity of paramutation with respect to other gene silencing phenomena consists in the ability of the silenced allele (named paramutagenic) to silence the other alle ... | 2015 | 26335267 |
| cell fusion in neurospora crassa. | in recent years, the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa has advanced as a model organism for studying eukaryotic cell-cell communication and fusion. cell merger in this fungus employs an unusual mode of communication, in which the fusion partners appear to switch between signal sending and receiving. many molecular factors mediating this intriguing mechanism and the subsequent membrane merger have been identified. it has become apparent that conserved factors, such as map kinases, nadph oxidas ... | 2015 | 26340439 |
| fgric8 is involved in regulating vegetative growth, conidiation, deoxynivalenol production and virulence in fusarium graminearum. | proteins of the resistance to inhibitors of cholinesterase 8 (ric8) group act as guanine nucleotide exchange factors (gefs) and play important roles in regulating g-protein signaling in animals. in filamentous fungi, putative ric8 orthologs have so far been identified in magnaporthe oryzae, neurospora crassa, aspergillus nidulans and aspergillus fumigatus. here, we report the functional investigation of a potential ric8 ortholog (fgric8) in the wheat head blight pathogen fusarium graminearum. ta ... | 2015 | 26341536 |
| seeing the world differently: variability in the photosensory mechanisms of two model fungi. | light plays an important role for most organisms on this planet, serving either as a source of energy or information for the adaptation of biological processes to specific times of day. the fungal kingdom is estimated to contain well over a million species, possibly 10-fold more, and it is estimated that a majority of the fungi respond to light, eliciting changes in several physiological characteristics including pathogenesis, development and secondary metabolism. two model organisms for photobi ... | 2016 | 26373782 |
| small heat shock proteins, phylogeny in filamentous fungi and expression analyses in aspergillus nidulans. | small heat shock proteins (shsps) have been characterized in organisms from all three domains of life and viruses and are involved in a wide range of biological functions. however, the evolution and function of shsp in aspergillus species are largely unknown. in the present work, shsps were identified in 31 filamentous fungi, including species from aspergillus, penicillium, fusarium and magnaporthe, as well as botrytis cinerea and neurospora crassa. phylogenetic analysis revealed high level of d ... | 2016 | 26403724 |
| pyrimidine analogs and the mutation of neurospora crassa. | 1964 | 26410907 | |
| selection of pairings reaching evenly across the data (spread): a simple algorithm to design maximally informative fully crossed mating experiments. | we present a novel algorithm for the design of crossing experiments. the algorithm identifies a set of individuals (a 'crossing-set') from a larger pool of potential crossing-sets by maximizing the diversity of traits of interest, for example, maximizing the range of genetic and geographic distances between individuals included in the crossing-set. to calculate diversity, we use the mean nearest neighbor distance of crosses plotted in trait space. we implement our algorithm on a real dataset of ... | 2016 | 26419337 |
| molecular basis for the substrate specificity and catalytic mechanism of thymine-7-hydroxylase in fungi. | tet proteins play a vital role in active dna demethylation in mammals and thus have important functions in many essential cellular processes. the chemistry for the conversion of 5mc to 5hmc, 5fc and 5cac catalysed by tet proteins is similar to that of t to 5hmu, 5fu and 5cau catalysed by thymine-7-hydroxylase (t7h) in the nucleotide anabolism in fungi. here, we report the crystal structures and biochemical properties of neurospora crassa t7h. t7h can bind the substrates only in the presence of c ... | 2015 | 26429971 |
| characterization of a novel prevacuolar compartment in neurospora crassa. | using confocal microscopy, we observed ring-like organelles, similar in size to nuclei, in the hyphal tip of the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa. these organelles contained a subset of vacuolar proteins. we hypothesize that they are novel prevacuolar compartments (pvcs). we examined the locations of several vacuolar enzymes and of fluorescent compounds that target the vacuole. vacuolar membrane proteins, such as the vacuolar atpase (vma-1) and the polyphosphate polymerase (vtc-4), were obse ... | 2015 | 26453652 |
| direct target network of the neurospora crassa plant cell wall deconstruction regulators clr-1, clr-2, and xlr-1. | fungal deconstruction of the plant cell requires a complex orchestration of a wide array of intracellular and extracellular enzymes. in neurospora crassa, clr-1, clr-2, and xlr-1 have been identified as key transcription factors regulating plant cell wall degradation in response to soluble sugars. the xlr-1 regulon was defined using a constitutively active mutant allele, resulting in hemicellulase gene expression and secretion under noninducing conditions. to define genes directly regulated by c ... | 2015 | 26463163 |
| global analysis of predicted g protein-coupled receptor genes in the filamentous fungus, neurospora crassa. | g protein-coupled receptors (gpcrs) regulate facets of growth, development, and environmental sensing in eukaryotes, including filamentous fungi. the largest predicted gpcr class in these organisms is the pth11-related, with members similar to a protein required for disease in the plant pathogen magnaporthe oryzae. however, the pth11-related class has not been functionally studied in any filamentous fungal species. here, we analyze phenotypes in available mutants for 36 gpcr genes, including 20 ... | 2015 | 26464358 |
| characterization of cercospora nicotianae hypothetical proteins in cercosporin resistance. | the photoactivated toxin, cercosporin, produced by cercospora species, plays an important role in pathogenesis of this fungus to host plants. cercosporin has almost universal toxicity to cells due to its production of reactive oxygen species including singlet oxygen. for that reason, cercospora species, which are highly resistant to their own toxin, are good candidates to identify genes for resistance to cercosporin and to the reactive oxygen species it produces. in previous research, the zinc c ... | 2015 | 26474162 |
| the blue-light receptor cmwc-1 mediates fruit body development and secondary metabolism in cordyceps militaris. | light is an essential factor for pigment formation and fruit body development in cordyceps militaris, a well-known edible and medicinal fungus. cmwc-1, a homolog of the blue-light receptor gene white collar-1 (wc-1) in neurospora crassa, was cloned from the c. militaris genome in our previous study. here, cmwc-1 gene inactivation results in thicker aerial hyphae, disordered fruit body development, a significant reduction in conidial formation, and carotenoid and cordycepin production. these char ... | 2016 | 26476643 |
| the n-acetylglucosamine catabolic gene cluster in trichoderma reesei is controlled by the ndt80-like transcription factor ron1. | chitin is an important structural constituent of fungal cell walls composed of n-acetylglucosamine (glcnac) monosaccharides, but catabolism of glcnac has not been studied in filamentous fungi so far. in the yeast candida albicans, the genes encoding the three enzymes responsible for stepwise conversion of glcnac to fructose-6-phosphate are clustered. in this work, we analysed glcnac catabolism in ascomycete filamentous fungi and found that the respective genes are also clustered in these fungi. ... | 2016 | 26481444 |
| transcription profiling of the neurospora crassa response to a group of synthetic (thio)xanthones and a natural acetophenone. | xanthones are a class of heterocyclic compounds characterized by a dibenzo-γ-pyrone nucleus. analysis of their mode of action in cells, namely uncovering alterations in gene expression, is important because these compounds have potential therapeutic applications. thus, we studied the transcriptional response of the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa to a group of synthetic (thio)xanthone derivatives with antitumor activity using high throughput rna sequencing. the induction of abc transporters ... | 2015 | 26484172 |
| extreme diversity in the regulation of ndt80-like transcription factors in fungi. | the saccharomyces cerevisiae ndt80 protein is the founding member of a class of p53-like transcription factors that is known as the ndt80/phog-like dna-binding family. the number of ndt80-like genes in different fungi is highly variable and their roles, which have been examined in only a few species, include regulation of meiosis, sexual development, biofilm formation, drug resistance, virulence, the response to nutrient stress and programmed cell death. the protein kinase ime2 regulates the sin ... | 2015 | 26497142 |
| compartmentalized microchannel array for high-throughput analysis of single cell polarized growth and dynamics. | interrogating polarized growth is technologically challenging due to extensive cellular branching and uncontrollable environmental conditions in conventional assays. here we present a robust and high-performance microfluidic system that enables observations of polarized growth with enhanced temporal and spatial control over prolonged periods. the system has built-in tunability and versatility to accommodate a variety of scientific applications requiring precisely controlled environments. using t ... | 2015 | 26530004 |
| loss of hp1 causes depletion of h3k27me3 from facultative heterochromatin and gain of h3k27me2 at constitutive heterochromatin. | methylated lysine 27 on histone h3 (h3k27me) marks repressed "facultative heterochromatin," including developmentally regulated genes in plants and animals. the mechanisms responsible for localization of h3k27me are largely unknown, perhaps in part because of the complexity of epigenetic regulatory networks. we used a relatively simple model organism bearing both facultative and constitutive heterochromatin, neurospora crassa, to explore possible interactions between elements of heterochromatin. ... | 2016 | 26537359 |
| role of bgt-1 and bgt-2, two predicted gpi-anchored glycoside hydrolases/glycosyltransferases, in cell wall remodeling in neurospora crassa. | neurospora crassa bgt-1 (ncu06381) and bgt-2 (ncu09175) are two putative glycoside hydrolases (ghs) with additional predicted glycosyltransferase activity and binding sites for a glycosyl phosphatidyl inositol (gpi) anchor that would facilitate their attachment to the plasma membrane (pm). to discern their role in key morphogenetic events during vegetative development of n. crassa, bgt-1 and bgt-2 were labeled with the green fluorescent protein (gfp). the gfp was inserted immediately after the s ... | 2015 | 26541633 |
| repositioning of drugs using open-access data portal dtome: a test case with probenecid (review). | the one gene-one enzyme hypothesis, first introduced by beadle and tatum in the 1940s and based on their genetic analysis and observation of phenotype changes in neurospora crassa challenged by various experimental conditions, has witnessed significant advances in recent decades. much of our understanding of the association between genes and their phenotype expression has benefited from the completion of the human genome project, and has shown continual transformation guided by the effort direct ... | 2016 | 26572802 |
| identification of ttaggg-binding proteins in neurospora crassa, a fungus with vertebrate-like telomere repeats. | to date, telomere research in fungi has mainly focused on saccharomyces cerevisiae and schizosaccharomyces pombe, despite the fact that both yeasts have degenerated telomeric repeats in contrast to the canonical ttaggg motif found in vertebrates and also several other fungi. | 2015 | 26577093 |
| genome-wide redistribution of h3k27me3 is linked to genotoxic stress and defective growth. | h3k9 methylation directs heterochromatin formation by recruiting multiple heterochromatin protein 1 (hp1)-containing complexes that deacetylate histones and methylate cytosine bases in dna. in neurospora crassa, a single h3k9 methyltransferase complex, called the dim-5,-7,-9, cul4, ddb1 complex (dcdc), is required for normal growth and development. dcdc-deficient mutants are hypersensitive to the genotoxic agent methyl methanesulfonate (mms), but the molecular basis of genotoxic stress is unclea ... | 2015 | 26578794 |
| heterologous expression of a gh3 β-glucosidase from neurospora crassa in pichia pastoris with high purity and its application in the hydrolysis of soybean isoflavone glycosides. | previous studies have shown isoflavone aglycones to have more biological effects than their counterparts, isoflavone glycones. some β-glucosidases can hydrolyze isoflavone glucosides to release aglycones, and discovery of these has attracted great interest. a glycoside hydrolase (gh) family 3 β-glucosidase (bgl2) gene from neurospora crassa was heterologously expressed in pichia pastoris with high purity. the recombinant bgl2 enzyme displayed its highest activity at ph 5.0 and 60 °c, and had its ... | 2016 | 26596358 |
| anti-infective assessment of senecio smithioides (asteraceae) and isolation of 9-oxoeuryopsin, a furanoeremophilane-type sesquiterpene with antiplasmodial activity. | the search for anti-infective activity in the antipyretic plant senecio smithioides was conducted. petroleum ether (pe), dichloromethane (ch2cl2), ethyl acetate (etoac) and hydroethanolic (96% etoh) extracts, and compounds 9-oxoeuryopsin (1), epoxydecompostin (2) and senecionine (3) were obtained from the aerial parts. all extracts and 1 were tested against chloroquine-resistant strain of plasmodium falciparum (ref. chloroquine), trypanosoma cruzi (ref. nifurtimox), leishmania braziliensis, leis ... | 2015 | 26606687 |
| fvso regulates vegetative hyphal fusion, asexual growth, fumonisin b1 production, and virulence in fusarium verticillioides. | hyphal anastomosis is a hallmark of filamentous fungi and plays vital roles including cellular homoeostasis, interhyphal communication and nutrient translocation. here we identify a gene, fvso, in fusarium verticillioides, a filamentous ascomycete causing maize ear and stalk rot and producing fumonisin mycotoxins. fvso, like its neurospora crassa homologue so, is required for vegetative hyphal fusion. it is also essential for normal vegetative growth, sporulation, and pathogenesis. fvso encodes ... | 2015 | 26615739 |
| around the fungal clock: recent advances in the molecular study of circadian clocks in neurospora and other fungi. | night follows day and as a consequence, organisms have evolved molecular machineries that allow them to anticipate and respond to the many changes that accompany these transitions. circadian clocks are precise yet plastic pacemakers that allow the temporal organization of a plethora of biological process. circadian clocks are widespread across the tree of life and while their exact molecular components differ among phyla, they tend to share common design principles. in this review, we discuss th ... | 2015 | 26639917 |
| fungal cobalamin-independent methionine synthase: insights from the model organism, neurospora crassa. | two families of methionine synthases, distinct in catalytic and structural features, have been encountered: meth, the cobalamin-dependent enzyme and mete, the cobalamin-independent form. the mete family is of mechanistic interest due to the chemically challenging nature of the reaction and is a potential target for antifungal therapeutics since the human genome encodes only meth. here we report the identification, purification, and crystal structure of mete from the filamentous fungus neurospora ... | 2016 | 26657067 |
| vdnuc-2, the key regulator of phosphate responsive signaling pathway, is required for verticillium dahliae infection. | in fungal cells, a phosphate (pi) responsive signaling and metabolism (pho) pathway regulates pi-homeostasis. nuc-2/pho81 and its homologs are one of the most important components in the regulation pathway. in soil-borne phytopathogenic fungus verticillium dahliae, we identified a neurospora crassa nuc-2 homolog gene vdnuc-2. vdnuc-2 is composed of 1,018 amino acids, and is highly conserved in tested filamentous fungi. under conditions of pi-starvation, compared with the wild-type strain and ect ... | 2015 | 26670613 |
| a novel zn2 cys6 transcription factor bcgaar regulates d-galacturonic acid utilization in botrytis cinerea. | d-galacturonic acid (gala) is the most abundant monosaccharide component of pectin. previous transcriptome analysis in the plant pathogenic fungus botrytis cinerea identified eight gala-inducible genes involved in pectin decomposition, gala transport and utilization. co-expression of these genes indicates that a specific regulatory mechanism occurs in b. cinerea. in this study, promoter regions of these genes were analysed and eight conserved sequence motifs identified. the bclga1 promoter, cont ... | 2016 | 26691528 |
| neurospora crassa transcriptomics reveals oxidative stress and plasma membrane homeostasis biology genes as key targets in response to chitosan. | chitosan is a natural polymer with antimicrobial activity. chitosan causes plasma membrane permeabilization and induction of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ros) in neurospora crassa. we have determined the transcriptional profile of n. crassa to chitosan and identified the main gene targets involved in the cellular response to this compound. global network analyses showed membrane, transport and oxidoreductase activity as key nodes affected by chitosan. activation of oxidative metabolism ... | 2016 | 26694141 |
| deoxycholic acid transformations catalyzed by selected filamentous fungi. | more than 100 filamentous fungi strains, mostly ascomycetes and zygomycetes from different phyla, were screened for the ability to convert deoxycholic acid (dca) to valuable bile acid derivatives. along with 11 molds which fully degraded dca, several strains were revealed capable of producing cholic acid, ursocholic acid, 12-keto-lithocholic acid (12-keto-lca), 3-keto-dca, 15β-hydroxy-dca and 15β-hydroxy-12-oxo-lca as major products from dca. the last metabolite was found to be a new compound. t ... | 2016 | 26718089 |
| bio-transformation of agri-food wastes by newly isolated neurospora crassa and lactobacillus plantarum for egg production. | using bio-transferred feedstuff was a cost-effective approach to improve egg quality and production; particularly, the nutritive diet came from agri-food wastes. in this study, optimization of fermentation conditions and co-cultivation of neurospora crassa with lactobacillus plantarum was performed in a simple bioreactor. the optimized fermentation of beer lees substrates through n. crassa led to the hydrolysis rates of crude fiber increasing to 43.27%. compared to that of using n. crassa alone, ... | 2016 | 26740129 |
| o-glycan analysis of cellobiohydrolase i from neurospora crassa. | we describe here the composition of the o-linked glycans on the neurospora crassa cellobiohydrolase i (cbhi), which accounts for approximately 40% of the protein secreted by cells growing in the presence of cellulose. cbhi is o-glycosylated with six types of linear, and three types of branched, o-glycans containing approximately equal amounts of mannose and galactose. in addition to the classic fungal o-glycans with reducing end mannoses, we also identified reducing end galactoses which suggest ... | 2016 | 26762173 |
| the lsh/ddm1 homolog mus-30 is required for genome stability, but not for dna methylation in neurospora crassa. | lsh/ddm1 enzymes are required for dna methylation in higher eukaryotes and have poorly defined roles in genome maintenance in yeast, plants, and animals. the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa is a tractable system that encodes a single lsh/ddm1 homolog (ncu06306). we report that the neurospora lsh/ddm1 enzyme is encoded by mutagen sensitive-30 (mus-30), a locus identified in a genetic screen over 25 years ago. we show that mus-30-deficient cells have normal dna methylation, but are hypersensi ... | 2016 | 26771905 |
| de-repression of csp-1 activates adaptive responses to antifungal azoles. | antifungal azoles are the major drugs that are used to treat fungal infections. this study found that in response to antifungal azole stress, neurospora crassa could activate the transcriptional responses of many genes and increase azole resistance by reducing the level of conidial separation 1 (csp-1), a global transcription repressor, at azole-responsive genes. the expression of csp-1 was directly activated by the transcription factors wc-1 and wc-2. upon ketoconazole (ktc) stress, the transcr ... | 2016 | 26781458 |
| antifungal mechanisms of a plant defensin mtdef4 are not conserved between the ascomycete fungi neurospora crassa and fusarium graminearum. | defensins play an important role in plant defense against fungal pathogens. the plant defensin, mtdef4, inhibits growth of the ascomycete fungi, neurospora crassa and fusarium graminearum, at micromolar concentrations. we have reported that mtdef4 is transported into the cytoplasm of these fungi and exerts its antifungal activity on intracellular targets. here, we have investigated whether the antifungal mechanisms of mtdef4 are conserved in these fungi. we show that n. crassa and f. graminearum ... | 2016 | 26801962 |
| localization and role of myo-1, an endocytic protein in hyphae of neurospora crassa. | the subapical endocytic collar is a prominent feature of hyphae of neurospora crassa. it comprises a dynamic collection of actin patches associated with a number of proteins required for endocytosis, namely, arp-2/3 complex, fimbrin, coronin, etc. we presently show that myo-1 is another key component of this endocytic collar. a myo-1 sequence was identified in the genome of n. crassa and used it to generate a strain with a myo-1-sgfp allele under the ccg1 promoter. examination of living hyphae b ... | 2016 | 26805950 |
| meiotic recombination in neurospora crassa proceeds by two pathways with extensive holliday junction migration. | analysis of thousands of δmsh-2 octads using our fluorescent recombination system indicates that, as in other filamentous fungi, symmetric heteroduplex is common in the his-3 region of neurospora crassa. symmetric heteroduplex arises from holliday junction migration, and we suggest this mechanism explains the high frequency of his+ spores in heteroallelic crosses in which recombination is initiated cis to the his-3 allele further from the initiator, cog+. in contrast, when recombination is initi ... | 2016 | 26812651 |
| de novo rna synthesis by rna-dependent rna polymerase activity of telomerase reverse transcriptase. | rna-dependent rna polymerase (rdrp) plays key roles in rna silencing to generate double-stranded rnas. in model organisms, such as caenorhabditis elegans and neurospora crassa, two types of small interfering rnas (sirnas), primary sirnas and secondary sirnas, are expressed; rdrp produces secondary sirnas de novo, without using either dicer or primers, while primary sirnas are processed by dicer. we reported that human telomerase reverse transcriptase (tert) has rdrp activity and produces endogen ... | 2016 | 26830230 |
| [influence of oxygenated derivatives of linoleic and linolenic acids on the formation of conidia and protoperithecia in wild-type and photoreceptor complex mutants of neurospora crassa]. | the regulatory effect of two oxyderivatives of unsaturated fatty acids (oxylipins), 18-hydroxy-(9z,12z)-octadecadienoic acid (18-hode) and 18-(9z,12z,15z)-octadecatrienoic acid (18-hotre), on the sexual and asexual sporulation of wild-type neurospora crassa strains and wc-1 and wc-1 mutants was studied. in the wild-type strain, 18-hode, unlike 18-hotre, stimulated protoperithecia formation in the dark and in the light. in the same strain, the studied oxylipins influenced conidiagenesis only unde ... | 2016 | 26859959 |
| the fungus tremella mesenterica encodes the longest metallothionein currently known: gene, protein and metal binding characterization. | fungal cu-thioneins, and among them, the paradigmatic neurospora crassa metallothionein (mt) (26 residues), were once considered as the shortest mts--the ubiquitous, versatile metal-binding proteins--among all organisms, and thus representatives of their primeval forms. nowadays, fungal mts of diverse lengths and sequence features are known, following the huge heterogeneity of the kingdom of fungi. at the opposite end of n. crassa mt, the recently reported cryptococcus neoformans cnmt1 and cnmt2 ... | 2016 | 26882011 |
| functional evolution in orthologous cell-encoded rna-dependent rna polymerases. | many eukaryotic organisms encode more than one rna-dependent rna polymerase (rdrp) that probably emerged as a result of gene duplication. such rdrp paralogs often participate in distinct rna silencing pathways and show characteristic repertoires of enzymatic activities in vitro however, to what extent members of individual paralogous groups can undergo functional changes during speciation remains an open question. we show that orthologs of qde-1, an rdrp component of the quelling pathway in neur ... | 2016 | 26907693 |
| the kinetochore interaction network (kin) of ascomycetes. | chromosome segregation relies on coordinated activity of a large assembly of proteins, the kinetochore interaction network (kin). how conserved the underlying mechanisms driving the epigenetic phenomenon of centromere and kinetochore assembly and maintenance are remains unclear, even though various eukaryotic models have been studied. more than 50 different proteins, many in multiple copies, comprise the kin or are associated with fungal centromeres and kinetochores. proteins isolated from immun ... | 2017 | 26908646 |
| the tetraspanin tsp3 of neurospora crassa is a vacuolar membrane protein and shares characteristics with idi proteins. | the fungal vacuole is an organelle, which adopts pleiotropic morphologies and functions. in aging and starving hyphae it is the compartment of degradation and recycling of cellular constituents. here we identified tsp3, one of three tetraspanins present in the filamentous ascomycete fungus neurospora crassa, as a vacuolar membrane protein. the protein is detected only in aging and starving cultures and under other conditions, which induce autophagy, such as vegetative incompatibility or the pres ... | 2016 | 26908649 |
| the interaction of fungi with the environment orchestrated by rnai. | the fungal kingdom has been key in the investigation of the biogenesis and function of small rnas (srnas). the discovery of phenomena such as quelling in neurospora crassa represents pioneering work in the identification of the main elements of the rna interference (rnai) machinery. recent discoveries in the regulatory mechanisms in some yeast and filamentous fungi are helping us reach a deeper understanding of the transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene-silencing mechanisms involved in ge ... | 2016 | 26932186 |
| genome-wide a-to-i rna editing in fungi independent of adar enzymes. | yeasts and filamentous fungi do not have adenosine deaminase acting on rna (adar) orthologs and are believed to lack a-to-i rna editing, which is the most prevalent editing of mrna in animals. however, during this study with the puk1(fgrres_01058) pseudokinase gene important for sexual reproduction in fusarium graminearum, we found that two tandem stop codons, ua(1831)gua(1834)g, in its kinase domain were changed to ug(1831)gug(1834)g by rna editing in perithecia. to confirm a-to-i editing of pu ... | 2016 | 26934920 |
| optimization of the hyper sensor for robust real-time detection of hydrogen peroxide in the rice blast fungus. | reactive oxygen species (ros) production and breakdown have been studied in detail in plant-pathogenic fungi, including the rice blast fungus, magnaporthe oryzae; however, the examination of the dynamic process of ros production in real time has proven to be challenging. we resynthesized an existing ros sensor, called hyper, to exhibit optimized codon bias for fungi, specifically neurospora crassa, and used a combination of microscopy and plate reader assays to determine whether this construct c ... | 2017 | 26950262 |
| microtubules and associated molecular motors in neurospora crassa. | the cytoskeleton provides structure, shape and movement to various cells. microtubules (mts) are tubular structures made of α and β-tubulin heterodimers organized in 13 protofilaments, forming a hollow cylinder. a vast group of mt-associated proteins determines the function, behavior and interaction of the mts with other cellular components. among these proteins, molecular motors such as the dynein-dynactin complex and kinesin superfamily play roles in mt organization and organelle transport. th ... | 2016 | 26951369 |
| the fast-evolving phy-2 gene modulates sexual development in response to light in the model fungus neurospora crassa. | rapid responses to changes in incident light are critical to the guidance of behavior and development in most species. phytochrome light receptors in particular play key roles in bacterial physiology and plant development, but their functions and regulation are less well understood in fungi. nevertheless, genome-wide expression measurements provide key information that can guide experiments that reveal how genes respond to environmental signals and clarify their role in development. we performed ... | 2016 | 26956589 |
| defining individual size in the model filamentous fungus neurospora crassa. | it is challenging to apply the tenets of individuality to filamentous fungi: a fungal mycelium can contain millions of genetically diverse but totipotent nuclei, each capable of founding new mycelia. moreover, a single mycelium can potentially stretch over kilometres, and it is unlikely that its distant parts share resources or have the same fitness. here, we directly measure how a single mycelium of the model ascomycete neurospora crassa is patterned into reproductive units (rus), meaning subpo ... | 2016 | 26962146 |
| the seb-1 transcription factor binds to the stre motif in neurospora crassa and regulates a variety of cellular processes including the stress response and reserve carbohydrate metabolism. | when exposed to stress conditions, all cells induce mechanisms resulting in an attempt to adapt to stress that involve proteins which, once activated, trigger cell responses by modulating specific signaling pathways. in this work, using a combination of pulldown assays and mass spectrometry analyses, we identified the neurospora crassa seb-1 transcription factor that binds to the stress response element (stre) under heat stress. orthologs of seb-1 have been functionally characterized in a few fi ... | 2016 | 26994287 |
| functional characterization of the woronin body protein wsca of the pathogenic mold aspergillus fumigatus. | woronin bodies are fungal-specific organelles that seal damaged hyphal compartments and thereby contribute to the stress resistance and virulence of filamentous fungi. in this study, we have characterized the aspergillus fumigatus woronin body protein wsca. wsca is homologous to neurospora crassa wsc, a protein that was shown to be important for biogenesis, segregation and positioning of woronin bodies. wsca and wsc both belong to the mpv17/pmp22 family of peroxisomal membrane proteins. an a. fu ... | 2016 | 27016805 |
| calcineurin subunits a and b interact to regulate growth and asexual and sexual development in neurospora crassa. | calcineurin is a calcium/calmodulin dependent protein phosphatase in eukaryotes that consists of a catalytic subunit a and a regulatory subunit b. previous studies in the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa had suggested that the catalytic subunit of calcineurin might be an essential protein. we generated n. crassa strains expressing the a (cna-1) and b (cnb-1) subunit genes under the regulation of ptcu-1, a copper-responsive promoter. in these strains, addition of bathocuproinedisulfonic acid ... | 2016 | 27019426 |
| prd-1, a component of the circadian system of neurospora crassa, is a member of the dead-box rna helicase family. | the circadian rhythms found in almost all organisms are driven by molecular oscillators, including transcription/translation feedback loops (ttfls). however, ttfl-independent oscillators can drive rhythms in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. the fungus neurospora crassa is a model organism for studying the molecular mechanism of the circadian clock. although a circadian ttfl involving the proteins frq, wc-1, and wc-2 is well-characterized in n. crassa, rhythms can still be observed in the absence ... | 2016 | 27029286 |
| chemotropism and cell fusion in neurospora crassa relies on the formation of distinct protein complexes by ham-5 and a novel protein ham-14. | in filamentous fungi, communication is essential for the formation of an interconnected, multinucleate, syncytial network, which is constructed via hyphal fusion or fusion of germinated asexual spores (germlings). anastomosis in filamentous fungi is comparable to other somatic cell fusion events resulting in syncytia, including myoblast fusion during muscle differentiation, macrophage fusion, and fusion of trophoblasts during placental development. in neurospora crassa, fusion of genetically ide ... | 2016 | 27029735 |
| signal exchange and integration during self-fusion in filamentous fungi. | growth and propagation of filamentous ascomycete fungi commonly involves vegetative cell fusion. in the red bread mold neurospora crassa and many other ascomycete species, fusion occurs between germinating spores during colony formation and between hyphal branches in established mycelia. both fusion processes promote the development and behavior of the fungal colony as a supra-cellular network. germling and hyphal fusion in n. crassa rely on an unusual mode of cellular communication, in which th ... | 2016 | 27032478 |
| structural divergence of the group i intron binding surface in fungal mitochondrial tyrosyl-trna synthetases that function in rna splicing. | the mitochondrial tyrosyl-trna synthetases (mttyrrss) of pezizomycotina fungi, a subphylum that includes many pathogenic species, are bifunctional proteins that both charge mitochondrial trna(tyr) and act as splicing cofactors for autocatalytic group i introns. previous studies showed that one of these proteins, neurospora crassa cyt-18, binds group i introns by using both its n-terminal catalytic and c-terminal anticodon binding domains and that the catalytic domain uses a newly evolved group i ... | 2016 | 27036943 |
| circadian clocks and the regulation of virulence in fungi: getting up to speed. | you cannot escape time. therefore, it seems wise to learn how to keep track of it and use it to your advantage. circadian clocks are molecular circuits that allow organisms to temporally coordinate a plethora of processes, including gene expression, with a close to 24h rhythm, optimizing cellular function in synchrony with daily environmental cycles. the molecular bases of these clocks have been extensively studied in the fungus neurospora crassa, providing a detailed molecular description. surp ... | 2016 | 27039027 |
| direct electrochemistry of nitrate reductase from the fungus neurospora crassa. | we report the first direct (unmediated) catalytic electrochemistry of a eukaryotic nitrate reductase (nr). nr from the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa, is a member of the mononuclear molybdenum enzyme family and contains a mo, heme and fad cofactor which are involved in electron transfer from nad(p)h to the (mo) active site where reduction of nitrate to nitrite takes place. nr was adsorbed on an edge plane pyrolytic graphite (epg) working electrode. non-turnover redox responses were observe ... | 2016 | 27060250 |
| beyond animals and plants: dynamic maternal effects in the fungus neurospora crassa. | maternal effects are widely documented in animals and plants, but not in fungi or other eukaryotes. a principal cause of maternal effects is asymmetrical parental investment in a zygote, creating greater maternal vs. paternal influence on offspring phenotypes. asymmetrical investments are not limited to animals and plants, but are also prevalent in fungi and groups including apicomplexans, dinoflagellates and red algae. evidence suggesting maternal effects among fungi is sparse and anecdotal. in ... | 2016 | 27062053 |
| identification and characterization of a novel aspergillus fumigatus rhomboid family putative protease, rbda, involved in hypoxia sensing and virulence. | aspergillus fumigatus is the most common pathogenic mold infecting humans and a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, a. fumigatus spores are inhaled into the lungs, undergoing germination and invasive hyphal growth. the fungus occludes and disrupts the blood vessels, leading to hypoxia and eventual tissue necrosis. the ability of this mold to adapt to hypoxia is regulated in part by the sterol regulatory element binding ... | 2016 | 27068092 |
| characterization of greenbeard genes involved in long-distance kind discrimination in a microbial eukaryote. | microorganisms are capable of communication and cooperation to perform social activities. cooperation can be enforced using kind discrimination mechanisms in which individuals preferentially help or punish others, depending on genetic relatedness only at certain loci. in the filamentous fungus neurospora crassa, genetically identical asexual spores (germlings) communicate and fuse in a highly regulated process, which is associated with fitness benefits during colony establishment. recognition an ... | 2016 | 27077707 |