The Aspergillus nidulans rcoA gene is required for veA-dependent sexual development

The Aspergillus nidulans rcoADelta mutant exhibits growth and developmental defects. We show that the rcoADelta mutant lacks cleistothecia and is self-sterile. In crosses with wild-type strains, rcoADelta nuclei do not contribute to the cleistothecial walls. Furthermore, sexual development resulting from veA overexpression is rcoA dependent, indicating that rcoA lies downstream of veA in the sexual development pathway.     

Conidiogenesis and secondary metabolism in Penicillium urticae.

Submerged cultures of Penicillium urticae (NRRL 2159A) produced the antibiotics patulin and griseofulvin when grown in a glucose-nitrate medium. A high concentration of calcium (i.e., 68 mM) inhibited the production of both antibiotics while stimulating conidiogenesis. Conidial mutants that were defective in an early stage of conidiogenesis produced markedly less patulin, even under growth conditions that favored secondary metabolism. A mutant which lacked the ability to produce the patulin pathway metabolites m-cresol, toluquinol, m-hydroxybenzyl-alcohol, m-hydroxybenzaldehyde, gentisaldehyde, gentisyl alcohol, gentisic acid and patulin, as well as the pathway enzyme m-hydroxybenzyl-alcohol dehydrogenase, still produced yields of conidia that were equivalent to or greater than those of the parent strain. Other mutants which were blocked at later steps of the patulin pathway also produced conidia. These results indicate that patulin and the other related secondary metabolites noted above are not a prerequisite to conidiogenesis in P. urticae. Environmental and developmental factors such as calcium levels and conidiogenesis do, however, indirectly affect the production of patulin pathway metabolites.     

Autolytic hydrolases affect sexual and asexual development of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus nidulans</Emphasis>

Radial growth, asexual sporulation, and cleistothecia formation as well as extracellular chitinase and proteinase formation of Aspergillus nidulans were monitored in surface cultures in order to study the physiological role of extracellular hydrolase production in carbon-stressed cultures. We set up carbon-stressed and carbon-overfed experimental conditions by varying the starting glucose concentration within the range of 2.5 and 40 g/L. Glucose starvation induced radial growth and hydrolase production and enhanced the maturation of cleistothecia; meanwhile, glucose-rich conditions enhanced mycelial biomass, conidia, and cleistothecia production. Double deletion of chiB and engA (encoding an extracellular endochitinase and a β-1,3-endoglucanase, respectively) decreased conidia production under carbon-stressed conditions, suggesting that these autolytic hydrolases can support conidia formation by releasing nutrients from the cell wall polysaccharides of dead hyphae. Double deletion of prtA and pepJ (both genes encode extracellular proteases) reduced the number of cleistothecia even under carbon-rich conditions except in the presence of casamino acids, which supports the view that sexual development and amino acid metabolism are tightly connected to each other in this fungus.     

VEA1 is required for cleistothecial formation and virulence in Histoplasma capsulatum

Histoplasma capsulatum is a pathogenic fungus dependent on dimorphism for virulence. Among the four described Velvet family genes, two of them, Ryp2 and Ryp3, have been shown to be required for dimorphism. It is known that Velvet A (VeA) is necessary for sexual development and toxin production in Aspergillus nidulans. However, the role of the VeA ortholog in H. capsulatum has not yet been explored. Vea1, H. capsulatum homolog of VeA, was studied to determine its role in cleistothecial formation, dimorphism, and virulence. H. capsulatum Vea1 restores cleistothecial formation and partially restores sterigmatocystin production in an A. nidulans veA deletion strain. Furthermore, silencing VEA1 in an H. capsulatum strain capable of forming cleistothecia abolishes cleistothecial formation. Silenced strains also switch to mycelial phase faster, and show impaired switching to the yeast phase once in mycelial phase. Virulence in mice and macrophages is attenuated in VEA1 silenced strains and silenced strains demonstrate increased sensitivity during growth under acidic conditions. These results indicate that H. capsulatum Vea1 shares a similar role in development as VeA. H. capsulatum is also more susceptible to growth in acidic conditions when VEA1 is silenced, which may contribute to the silenced strains' attenuated virulence in mice and macrophages.     

Laccase localized in hulle cells and cleistothecial primordia of Aspergillus nidulans.

Several species of the genus Aspergillus form sexual spores within minute (approximately 0.2 mm) spherical shells (cleisthothecia) which are woven from specialized hyphae. Aspergillus nidulans cleistothecia are uniquely characterized by their dark red coloration and an envelope of thick-walled globose cells (hulle cells). By use of a new chromogenic substrate, we have shown that the constitutent hyphae of young cleistothecia and the hulle cells which surround the cleistothecia of A. nidulans exhibit a strong phenoloxidase activity which has the substrate specificity of a laccase. This enzyme (laccase II) is distinct from the previously described phenoloxidase (laccase I) that participates in the synthesis of the conidial pigment of A. nidulans: the two enzymes differ electrophoretically, do not cross-react immunologically, appear at different times during colonial development, and are under different genetic control. Examination of seven additional species of Aspergillus showed that the hulle cells of three acleistothecial species were also laccase positive, whereas the pale or unpigmented cleistothecia of four species (which lack hulle cells) were laccase negative. The relevance of these findings to the role of hulle cells in cleistothecial development is discussed. The presence of histologically detectable laccase in cleistothecial primordia provides a valuable tool, previously unavailable, for quantitating the early stages of sexual development in A. nidulans.     

G protein signaling mediates developmental processes and pathogenesis of Alternaria alternata

A G protein alpha subunit gene (AGA1) has been cloned and characterized from a toxigenic and necrotrophic Alternaria alternata pathogen. Targeted disruption of AGA1 in the apple pathotype of A. alternata gave rise to mutants that differed in colony and conidial morphology as well as sporulation. The conidia of wild type and deltaAGA1 mutants showed equal germination on cellulose membranes. However, wild-type germ tubes formed readily from different points around the conidia, grew randomly, and were often branched, whereas those of the mutants formed only at one or both ends of the conidia and tended to grow in straight paths. Targeted disruption of AGA1 also resulted in reduction of pathogenicity on apple leaves, although the mutant produced host-specific AM-toxin, a fungal secondary metabolite associated with pathogenicity of the pathogen, at levels similar to the wild-type strain. Measurement of the intracellular cAMP levels of the mutant revealed that it was consistently higher than that of the wild type, indicating that AGA1 negatively regulates cAMP levels similar to mammalian Galphai systems. These results indicate that the signal transduction pathway represented by AGA1 appears to be involved in developmental pathways leading to sporulation and pathogenesis of A. alternata.     

Mutant strains of Rhodopseudomonas spheroides which form photosynthetic pigments aerobically in the dark. Growth characteristics and enzymic activities

Mutant strains of Rhodopseudomonas spheroides have been isolated which contain 5–50 times more bacteriochlorophyll and carotenoids than the wild type when grown under highly aerobic conditions in the dark. Their pigment content is similar to the wild type when grown in the light. One of the mutants (TA-R) grew more slowly than its parent strain under aerobic conditions but formed pigments at about 60% of the rate observed under photosynthetic conditions. The other mutants grew at rates similar to the wild type under all conditions. Synthesis of bacteriochlorophyll by suspensions of the mutants began without delay upon transfer from conditions of high to low aeration. In contrast to the wild type, magnesium protoporphyrin-S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.11) activity in particulate preparations from the mutants was not repressed by growth under aerobic conditions in the light or dark. Ribulose diphosphate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.39) activity was repressed by O₂ in the mutants as in the wild type. Other enzyme activities were compared in mutant TA-R and its parent strain grown under the same conditions. NADH oxidase activity in particles from aerobically grown TA-R was about one third that found in the parent strain. However, the respiration rates of the intact cells did not differ. Light inhibited the respiration of aerobically grown TA-R, indicating that the bacteriochlorophyll formed under these conditions had photochemical activity. It is concluded that the insensitivity of the mutants to O₂ repression is due to defects in the regulatory system which controls formation of the enzymes concerned in pigment synthesis.     

内切葡聚糖酶高产菌株的诱变选育

【目的】建立里氏木霉(Trichoderma reesei)高产突变菌株的快速筛选方法,选育出高产内切葡聚糖酶的突变株。【方法】对里氏木霉T306菌株的初筛培养基进行优化,建立快速筛选方法;通过紫外诱变手段选育内切葡聚糖酶高产突变菌株,并对突变菌株的产酶培养基进行优化。【结果】在初筛培养基中添加浓度为0.1%(W/V)的乳糖、蛋白胨及脱氧胆酸钠有利于菌株的筛选。诱变后筛选出菌落形态发生明显变化的内切葡聚糖酶高产突变株0516,其羧甲基纤维素酶活力(CMC酶)较出发菌株提高了38.9%。其产酶培养基经优化后,得到最适碳、氮源分别为:乳糖1.50%、硫酸铵0.14%、尿素0.05%、蛋白胨0.10%,优化后CMC酶活力达64.2 U/mL,较优化前提高了2.3倍。【结论】建立了里氏木霉高产突变菌株的快速筛选方法,通过紫外诱变育种获得了产内切葡聚糖酶能力高且遗传稳定的突变株0516。     

An adhesion-defective mutant of Ruminococcus albus SY3 is impaired in its capability to degrade cellulose

An adhesion-defective mutant of Ruminococcus albus SY3 was isolated by a subtractive enrichment procedure, which involved repetitive adsorption of cellobiose-grown cells to cellulose. The growth characteristics of the mutant were compared with those of the wild type. Like the wild-type cells, the mutant was capable of growing on soluble substrates, i.e. cellobiose and xylan. However, in contrast to the wild type strain, the mutant was impaired in its capacity to utilize insoluble substrates, e.g. crystalline cellulose, acid-swollen cellulose or alfalfa cell walls. Scanning electron microscopy revealed protuberance-like surface structures on the wild-type strain which were absent on the mutant. The levels of endoglucanase and xylanase enzymatic activities released into the extracellular culture fluid were higher in the wild type compared to the mutant. However, Avicelase activity was not detected in the extracellular culture fluid of either strains when grown on cellobiose.     

Competence-Inducing Factor of Bacillus stearothermophilus

An incompetent mutant (4S Com(-)) does not release competence-inducing factor (CF) into the culture medium and is not infected with TP-1C phage deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) unless CF is added to the transfection assay. A TP-1C phage-resistant mutant (4S Ton-r) releases relatively large amounts of CF into the culture medium but is not infected with TP-1C phage DNA, even in the presence of CF. The production of CF by the wild type or Ton-r mutant and the ability of the wild type or Com(-) mutant to react with CF does not occur after these cultures have grown at 67 C for 1 hr or longer. A preliminary characterization of the CF is described. The autolytic enzyme or the temperate phage of the wild type and the Ton-r and Com(-) mutants do not have competence-inducing activity.     

Mutants of Arthroderma benhamiae

The object of these studies was to isolate conditionally lethal mutants of Arthroderma benhamiae whose vegetative growth was temperature sensitive (ts). Three sorts of mutants were derived from nitrosoguanidine treatment of the microconidia of A. benhamiae: (i) ts "pleomorphic", (ii) ts "non-pleomorphic", and (iii) slow growers (sg) which were not temperature sensitive. The growth of wild type A. benhamiae, as measured by colony diameters, was 6 mm/day at 37 degrees C (chosen as non-permissive for screening mutants) and 5 mm/day at 25 degrees C (chosen as permissive for screening mutants). Growth of mutants of the first sort was virtually stopped at 37 degrees C but their growth at 25 degrees C was more rapid than that of wild type. The colony texture of these mutants was downy and their mycelium sterile. They failed to mate with parents of opposite mating type. These mutants were considered to be ts "pleomorphic". The second sort of mutants were ts "non-pleomorphic". Two isolates of this kind were recovered. They grew normally at 25 degrees C but their growth at 37 degrees C was reduced 50--70% of that of wild type. The nature of the temperature sensitive defect has not been identified. The third sort of mutant occurred very frequently. These isolates were slow growers (sg) regardless of temperature of incubation and their response to the respiratory inhibitors antimycin and salicyl hydroxamic acid suggested a defect in mitochondrial ribosome assembly and deficiencies in cytochromes not unlike those observed in the poky mutants of Neurospora. Two of the sg-mutants (sg 2 and sg3) produced abundant cleistothecia with asci and ascospores when back crossed to parents of opposite mating type. The sg 5 mutant produced cleistothecia but no ascospores. The ergosterol content of the sg 2 mutant was nearly the same as that of wild type while the ergosterol content of sg 3 was somewhat reduced and that of sg 5 was markedly reduced as compared to that of wild type. Thus the ergosterol content seems to play some role in sexual reproduction of A. benhamiae. The pattern of sensitivity to amphotericin B also reflected differences in the sterol content of the mutants, i.e., the two mutants with some alteration in their ergosterol content, sg 3 and sg 5 were more resistant to the antibiotic. During the course of these studies a number of variants were observed that produced different sorts and degrees of pigmentation of the reverse of their colonies. One stable variant of this kind gave rise to colonies with a red reverse when incubated at 37 degrees C and a yellow reverse when incubated at 25 degrees C. When plates were shifted from one temperature to another the next wave of growth was the color specified by the temperature.     

裂殖壶菌高产油突变体的高通量筛选

二十二碳六烯酸(DHA)具有促进婴幼儿大脑和视网膜发育等多种生理功能,被广泛应用于食品、医药和养殖等行业。为了获得适合于工业化生产的高产油、高产DHA的裂殖壶菌工程株,文中建立了一套操作简单、快速准确的基于尼罗红染色的高通量筛选方案。首先利用紫外线(UVC)诱变的方式快速构建裂殖壶菌的随机突变体库。然后采用优化后的筛选条件如裂殖壶菌的最佳尼罗红染色条件(二甲基亚砜浓度为20%,尼罗红终浓度为2.0μg/mL,孵育时间为10 min,孵育温度为40℃)和更合理的筛选依据(多功能酶标仪实现高通量测量的单位细胞密度油脂量)等,对3 648株突变体进行筛选,得到了3株高产油突变体(D03432、D05106和D01521)。摇瓶发酵实验表明,这3株突变体在生物量、油脂含量和DHA产量上均高于野生型菌株,其中突变体D03432和D05106的油脂量分别达到了干重的64.74%和63.13%,远高于野生型菌株的43.19%。而且这两株突变体的DHA产量分别是野生型菌株的2.26倍和2.37倍。最后,对突变体D03432和D05106进行了5 L发酵罐发酵培养,相较于野生型菌株,这两株突变体不仅生物量和油脂含量有所增加,而且DHA产量更是分别增加了45.5 1%和66.46%,展现出较好的工业应用潜力。此外,本筛选方案对其他产油微生物高产油突变体的高通量筛选具有借鉴作用。     

Multiple roles of a heterotrimeric G-protein gamma-subunit in governing growth and development of Aspergillus nidulans

Vegetative growth signaling in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans is primarily mediated by the heterotrimeric G-protein composed of FadA (G alpha), SfaD (G beta), and a presumed G gamma. Analysis of the A. nidulans genome identified a single gene named gpgA encoding a putative G gamma-subunit. The predicted GpgA protein consists of 90 amino acids showing 72% similarity with yeast Ste18p. Deletion (delta) of gpgA resulted in restricted vegetative growth and lowered asexual sporulation. Moreover, similar to the delta sfaD mutant, the delta gpgA mutant was unable to produce sexual fruiting bodies (cleistothecia) in self-fertilization and was severely impaired with cleistothecial development in outcross, indicating that both SfaD and GpgA are required for fruiting body formation. Developmental and morphological defects caused by deletion of flbA encoding an RGS protein negatively controlling FadA-mediated vegetative growth signaling were suppressed by delta gpgA, indicating that GpgA functions in FadA-SfaD-mediated vegetative growth signaling. However, deletion of gpgA could not bypass the need for the early developmental activator FluG in asexual sporulation, suggesting that GpgA functions in a separate signaling pathway. We propose that GpgA is the only A. nidulans G gamma-subunit and is required for normal vegetative growth as well as proper asexual and sexual developmental progression.     

A comparison of the proteins found in developing wild type larvae and developing lethal mutant larvae of Drosophila melanogaster

Summary Extracts of late larval lethal mutants were compared with extracts of wild type larvae of the same developmental age on double diffusion plates using 16 different antisera. Nearly all of the mutant extracts showed relative antigen concentration differences compared with the wild type and four of the mutants lacked a protein at death found in the wild type of the same developmental age. In each case it was a different protein. The results are discussed by considering the different ways in which mutations can lead to the loss of a protein in developing systems.     

Male and female roles in crosses of Aspergillus nidulans as revealed by vegetatively incompatible parents

To resolve the role of male and female nuclei and mitochondria in cleistothecium formation in the model organism Aspergillus nidulans, we analysed the genetic constituents of cleistothecia from crosses between vegetatively compatible and incompatible parents. We used markers that enabled us to determine the nuclear genotype of the cleistothecial wall and the nuclear and mitochondrial genotype of the ascospores. In compatible parents, nuclear genomes and cytoplasm usually mix in the vegetative hyphae prior to the formation of the sexual stage after which any cleistothecial composition is possible. In incompatible parents, the maternal strain contributes the nuclei for the cleistothecial wall and one nucleus as well as mitochondria for the ascospore origin. The paternal strain donates one nucleus for the ascospore origin. Only in crosses between vegetatively incompatible partners, it is possible to assign a female and male role to the parental strains. Our results confirm that the vegetative heterokaryotic stage is not a prerequisite for cleistothecium formation. Using this tool, we analysed sexual sporulation mutants for male or female sterility.     

Evidence for a Second Nitrate Reductase Activity That Is Distinct from the Respiratory Enzyme in Salmonella typhimurium

Significant nitrate reductase activity was detected in mutants of Salmonella typhimurium which mapped at or near chlC and which were incapable of growth with nitrate as electron acceptor. The same mutants were sensitive to chlorate and performed sufficient nitrate reduction to permit anaerobic growth with nitrate as the sole nitrogen source in media containing glucose. The mutant nitrate-reducing protein did not migrate with the wild-type nitrate reductase in polyacrylamide electrophoretic gels. Studies of the electrophoretic mobility in gels of different polyacrylamide concentration revealed that the wild-type and mutant nitrate reductases differed significantly in both size and charge. The second enzyme also differed from the wild-type major enzyme in its response to repression by low pH and its lack of response to repression by glucose. The same mutants were found to be derepressed for nitrite reductase and for a cytochrome with a maximal reduced absorbance at 555 nm at 25°C. This cytochrome was not detected in preparations of the wild type grown under the same conditions. Extracts of these mutants contained normal amounts of the b-type cytochromes which, in the wild type, were associated with nitrate reductase and formate dehydrogenase, respectively, although they could not mediate the oxidation of these cytochromes with nitrate. They were capable of oxidizing the derepressed 555-nm peak cytochrome with nitrate. It is suggested that these mutants synthesize a nitrate-reducing enzyme which is distinct from the chlC gene product and which is repressed in the wild type during anaerobic growth with nitrate.