The promoter of the glucoamylase-encoding gene of Aspergillus niger functions in Ustilago maydis

Drugs and drug intermediates from fungi: Striving for greener processes

There is an ever-increasing demand of newer and improved drugs from biological sources to cater to the bio-pharmaceutical sector. Among various other resources, fungal species have an immense contribution owing to their potential to carry out the bio-transformations and drug synthesis in diverse conditions and in an eco-friendly manner. Advancement in the biotechnological processes has accelerated the process. Genome sequence information of various fungal species has opened newer avenues for improved and faster drug targeting and designing. The review highlights the production of pharmaceutical drugs and drug intermediates like antibiotics, anti-cancer, anti-cholesterol, anti-diabetic, immunosuppressant, anti-anxiety, anti-virals and many other drugs from fungus. Many of these have been commercialized and there are many more which are either in research or in clinical trial phase. There is a need to exploit and explore the vast biota of fungi in the hope of discovering untapped therapeutic uses of the earth's countless species of fungus.

Characterization of the gene encoding pisatin demethylase (FoPDA1) in Fusarium oxysporum

The pea pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. pisi is able to detoxify pisatin produced as a defense response by pea, and the gene encoding this detoxification mechanism, FoPDA1, was 82% identical to the cytochrome P450 pisatin demethylase PDA1 gene in Nectria haematococca. A survey of F. oxysporum f. sp. pisi isolates demonstrated that, as in N. haematococca, the PDA gene of F. oxysporum f. sp. pisi is generally located on a small chromosome. In N. haematococca, PDA1 is in a cluster of pea pathogenicity (PEP) genes. Homologs of these PEP genes also were found in the F. oxysporum f. sp. pisi isolates, and PEP1 and PEP5 were sometimes located on the same small chromosomes as the FoPDA1 homologs. Transforming FoPDA1 into a pda(?) F. oxysporum f. sp. lini isolate conferred pda activity and promoted pathogenicity on pea to some transformants. Different hybridization patterns of FoPDA1 were found in F. oxysporum f. sp. pisi but these did not correlate with the races of the fungus, suggesting that races within this forma specialis arose independently of FoPDA1. FoPDA1 also was present in the formae speciales lini, glycines, and dianthi of F. oxysporum but they had mutations resulting in nonfunctional proteins. However, an active FoPDA1 was present in F. oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli and it was virulent on pea. Despite their evolutionary distance, the amino acid sequences of FoPDA1 of F. oxysporum f. sp. pisi and F. oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli revealed only six amino acid differences, consistent with a horizontal gene transfer event accounting for the origin of these genes.

Development of a transformation system for the nematophagous fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia

The nematophagous fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia is a potential biocontrol agent against root knot and cyst nematodes. Genetic transformation of the fungus to introduce visual marker genes, novel traits, or changes in expression levels of endogenous genes, would greatly enhance understanding of its behaviour on nematode-infested roots and of its interactions with other soil and rhizosphere microorganisms. A transformation system for the introduction of novel genes into P. chlamydosporia has been developed. Methods to generate protoplasts, introduce DNA and regenerate transformed viable fungal mycelium have been optimised, using plasmids carrying the green fluorescent protein marker gene gfp and the hygromycin resistance gene hph. Cultures of P. chlamydosporia were resistant to high levels of a range of fungal inhibitors, including hygromycin, that are commonly used with dominant selectable marker genes in the transformation of other fungi. However, regenerating protoplasts transformed with hph could be selected by their ability to grow through an agar overlay containing 1 mg ml(-1) hygromycin. Green fluorescence was observed in protoplasts and regenerating mycelium after transformation with gfp, but the GFP phenotype was lost on subculture. Maintenance of introduced genes was not stable, and during subculture, PCR assays indicated that the transformants lost both hph and gfp. When these genes were introduced on the same plasmid, segregation of hph and gfp was observed prior to their loss. It was unclear whether the introduced plasmids were able to replicate autonomously in P. chlamydosporia, or if they integrated transiently into the fungal genome. Possible reasons for the instability of the transformants are discussed.

Regulated expression of green fluorescent protein under the control of Aureobasidium pullulans xylanase gene xynA

A mutant form of the jellyfish cDNA encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) was fused to the promoter of the Aureobasidium pullulans xylanase gene xynA and the expression vector pxynEGFP was introduced into A. pullulans. In a manner consistent with regulation of the native xynA gene, gfp activity was induced by xylose and repressed by glucose. The marker may be useful for monitoring populations of A. pullulans in situ and for identifying transcriptional control elements of xynA.

In vivo addition of telomeric repeats to foreign DNA generates extrachromosomal DNAs in the taxol-producing fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora

Transformation of the taxol-producing filamentous fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora with a plasmid containing the bacterial hygromycin resistance gene fused to Aspergillus regulatory sequences resulted in the in vivo formation of extrachromosomal DNAs with telomeric repeats in the majority of transformants. Repeats of the telomeric sequence 5'-TTAGGG-3' were appended to nontelomeric transforming DNA termini. No fungal sequences other than telomeric repeats were detected in extrachromosomal DNAs. Transformants contained three to six different sizes or conformational forms of extrachromosomal DNAs. The DNAs showed no change in size or internal structure during 6 months of growth with selection, but were lost after 20 days of growth without selection. Transformation of wild-type P. microspora with a PCR-amplified extrachromosomal DNA having terminal telomeric repeats produced up to 50-fold more transformants than the original transformation vector. The addition of telomeric repeats to foreign DNA is unusual among fungi and may have important adaptive or developmental implications.

Transforming DNA integrates at multiple sites in the dimorphic fungal pathogen Blastomyces dermatitidis

Blastomyces dermatitidis is a primary fungal pathogen of man and other mammals, but like many other human fungal pathogens, relatively little is known about the factors that account for its virulence and pathogenicity. We developed a transformation system to facilitate molecular genetic studies of putative virulence factors from B. dermatitidis. Transformation of the multinucleate yeasts was achieved by electroporation of DNAs containing a dominant selectable marker, hygromycin B (HygB) resistance. Southern analysis showed that transforming DNA invariably integrated ectopically into the chromosome. No evidence was found for extrachromosomal DNA. The HygB resistance could be expressed by either a 375-bp promoter fragment of the B. dermatitidis WI-1 gene encoding adhesin or an Aspergillus gpdA promoter placed 5' of the E. coli hph gene. Primer extension analysis showed that for plasmids containing the WI-1 promoter, transcription of the hph gene initiated within the 375-bp WI-1 promoter fragment. The combination of gene transfer and two promoters capable of independent transcription will allow us to restore or augment gene expression in appropriate strains and test an influence on virulence. Molecular genetic manipulation of B. dermatitidis represents a major advance in our ability to investigate the pathogenesis of blastomycosis and other similar fungal diseases.

Characterization of the "promoter region" of the enolase-encoding gene enol from the anaerobic fungus Neocallimastix frontalis: sequence and promoter analysis

The sequence of the Neocallimastix frontalis enolase gene promoter was determined up to 1800 nucleotides 5' to the major transcriptional start point. The base composition of the enolase upstream sequence revealed a very A + T-rich profile (13.5% G + C) leading to many putative hairpin structures. The functional organization of the N. frontalis enolase promoter was investigated by heterologous transient-expression assays. DNA fragments obtained by the sequential removal of sequences upstream of the translation start codon were fused to the Escherichia coli lacZ gene and the resulting plasmids were used to transform the ascomycetes Aspergillus nidulans and Penicillium roqueforti and the oomycete Saprolegnia monoica. Transient expression of the lacZ reporter gene was observed in regenerating proteoplasts of S. monoica when using the 0.3 kb or 1 kb upstream of the enolase coding region. In contrast no beta-galactosidase activity was detected in ascomycete protoplasts. DNA hybridization analysis revealed the integration of vector DNA in the genomic DNA of S. monoica and the presence of free copies of the transformation plasmid which could be rescued in E. coli. Our results indicate that the transcriptional machinery of the anaerobic chytrid N. frontalis may differ significantly from that of ascomycetes but that enough conservation exists within the lower fungi to allow a transient-driven expression of a reporter gene in an oomycete fungus.

Regulatory sequences for expressing genes in oomycete fungi

Promoter and terminator sequences from a range of species were tested for activity in the oomycetes, a group of lower fungi that bear an uncertain taxonomic affinity to other organisms and in which little is known of the sequences required for transcription. Transient assays, using the reporter gene beta-glucuronidase (GUS), were used to examine the function of these promoters and terminators in the plant pathogens Phytophthora infestans and P. megasperma f. sp. glycinea, and in the saprophytic water mold, Achlya ambisexualis. Oomycete promoters, isolated from the ham34 and hsp70 genes of Bremia lactucae and the actin gene of P. megasperma f. sp. glycinea, resulted in high levels of GUS accumulation in each of the three oomycetes. In contrast, little or no activity was detected when promoters from higher fungi (four ascomycetes and one basidiomycete), plants, and animals were tested. The terminator from the ham34 gene resulted in much higher levels of GUS accumulation than did others, although an oomycete terminator was not absolutely required for expression. Transcript mapping of RNA from stable transformants confirmed accurate initiation from the B. lactucae hsp70 promoter and termination within 3' ham34 sequences in P. infestans. Our results indicate that the transcriptional machinery of the oomycetes differs significantly from that of the higher fungi, but that enough conservation exists within the class to allow vectors developed from one oomycete species to be used for others.

Gene expression systems for filamentous fungi

The extraordinary capacity of filamentous fungi to produce large quantities of extracellular protein, together with the advent of DNA-mediated fungal transformation, has resulted in rapid advances in the development of gene expression systems for filamentous fungi. This review focuses on recent developments in the expression of both fungal and non-fungal genes and improvements to the host.

Genetic transformation of Aureobasidium pullulans

Aureobasidium pullulans strain Y117 was transformed to hygromycin resistance using plasmid pDH33, which contains the bacterial hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene (hph) fused to promoter elements of the Aspergillus niger glucoamylase gene (glaA). Southern hybridizations of transformants revealed multiple, integrated copies of the vector. The glaA promoter was not induced by starch in A. pullulans as it is in A. niger; however, the transcriptional start points were the same in both species.

An expression vector for the phytopathogenic fungus, Ustilago maydis

We have constructed an expression vector for the phytopathogenic fungus Ustilago maydis. This vector, pUXV, expresses genes located downstream from a U. maydis glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter. Plasmid pUXV also contains a selective marker gene conferring resistance to the antibiotic hygromycin B and a U. maydis autonomously replicating sequence, UARS, allowing high transformation efficiency. Expression of a cDNA from the toxin-encoding region of the U. maydis virus P6 in pUXV resulted in as much killing activity as from viral particles when evaluated by killer plate assay. Plasmid pUXV preserves essential sequences from pUC12 and is therefore a shuttle vector for U. maydis and Escherichia coli.