Latest finding - Molecular Microbiology
- Reconstruction of signaling networks regulating fungal morphogenesis by transcriptomics.
Coordinated control of hyphal elongation and branching is essential for sustaining mycelial growth of filamentous fungi. In order to study the molecular machinery ensuring polarity control in the industrial fungus Aspergillus niger, we took advantage of the temperature-sensitive apical-branching mutant ramosa-1. We could show that this strain serves as an excellent model system to study critical steps of polar growth control during mycelial development and report for the first time a transcriptomic fingerprint of apical branching for a filamentous fungus. This fingerprint indicates that several signal transduction pathways, including TORC2, phospholipid, calcium, and cell wall integrity signaling, concertedly act to control apical branching. The integration of transcriptomic, genetic, and phenotypic data obtained in this study allowed us to reconstruct a model for cellular events involved in apical branching (see Figure).
Meyer V, Arentshorst M, Flitter SJ, Nitsche BM, Kwon MJ, Reynaga-Peña CG, Bartnicki-Garcia S, van den Hondel CA, Ram AF. Eukaryot Cell. 2009 Nov;8(11):1677-91. PMID: 19749177
