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Trivellin C, Torello Pianale L, Olsson L. Robustness quantification of a mutant library screen revealed key genetic markers in yeast. Microb Cell Fact 2024; 23:218. [PMID: 39098937 PMCID: PMC11298085 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-024-02490-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Microbial robustness is crucial for developing cell factories that maintain consistent performance in a challenging environment such as large-scale bioreactors. Although tools exist to assess and understand robustness at a phenotypic level, the underlying metabolic and genetic mechanisms are not well defined, which limits our ability to engineer more strains with robust functions. RESULTS This study encompassed four steps. (I) Fitness and robustness were analyzed from a published dataset of yeast mutants grown in multiple environments. (II) Genes and metabolic processes affecting robustness or fitness were identified, and 14 of these genes were deleted in Saccharomyces cerevisiae CEN.PK113-7D. (III) The mutants bearing gene deletions were cultivated in three perturbation spaces mimicking typical industrial processes. (IV) Fitness and robustness were determined for each mutant in each perturbation space. We report that robustness varied according to the perturbation space. We identified genes associated with increased robustness such as MET28, linked to sulfur metabolism; as well as genes associated with decreased robustness, including TIR3 and WWM1, both involved in stress response and apoptosis. CONCLUSION The present study demonstrates how phenomics datasets can be analyzed to reveal the relationship between phenotypic response and associated genes. Specifically, robustness analysis makes it possible to study the influence of single genes and metabolic processes on stable microbial performance in different perturbation spaces. Ultimately, this information can be used to enhance robustness in targeted strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Trivellin
- Department of Life Sciences, Division of Industrial Biotechnology, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Luca Torello Pianale
- Department of Life Sciences, Division of Industrial Biotechnology, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Lisbeth Olsson
- Department of Life Sciences, Division of Industrial Biotechnology, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden.
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2
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Xia H, Song N, Liu D, Zhou R, Shangguan L, Chen X, Dai J. Exploring the stress response mechanisms to 2-phenylethanol conferred by Pdr1p mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2024; 17:109. [PMID: 39090744 PMCID: PMC11295549 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02559-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2024] [Accepted: 07/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The 2-phenylethanol (2-PE) tolerance phenotype is crucial to the production of 2-PE, and Pdr1p mutation can significantly increase the tolerance of 2-PE in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, its underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear, hindering the rational design of superior 2-PE tolerance performance. RESULTS Here, the physiology and biochemistry of the PDR1_862 and 5D strains were analyzed. At 3.5 g/L 2-PE, the ethanol concentration of PDR1_862 decreased by 21%, and the 2-PE production of PDR1_862 increased by 16% than those of 5D strain. Transcriptome analysis showed that at 2-PE stress, Pdr1p mutation increased the expression of genes involved in the Ehrlich pathway. In addition, Pdr1p mutation attenuated sulfur metabolism and enhanced the one-carbon pool by folate to resist 2-PE stress. These metabolic pathways were closely associated with amino acids metabolism. Furthermore, at 3.5 g/L 2-PE, the free amino acids content of PDR1_862 decreased by 31% than that of 5D strain, among the free amino acids, cysteine was key amino acid for the enhancement of 2-PE stress tolerance conferred by Pdr1p mutation. CONCLUSIONS The above results indicated that Pdr1p mutation enhanced the Ehrlich pathway to improve 2-PE production of S. cerevisiae, and Pdr1p mutation altered the intracellular amino acids contents, in which cysteine might be a biomarker in response to Pdr1p mutation under 2-PE stress. The findings help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms for 2-PE stress tolerance by Pdr1p mutation in S. cerevisiae, identify key metabolic pathway responsible for 2-PE stress tolerance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huili Xia
- College of Biological and Food Engineering, Huanghuai University, Zhumadian, 463000, Henan, China
| | - Na Song
- Cooperative Innovation Center of Industrial Fermentation (Ministry of Education & Hubei Province), Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), National "111" Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, School of Life and Health Sciences, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Daoqi Liu
- College of Biological and Food Engineering, Huanghuai University, Zhumadian, 463000, Henan, China
| | - Rong Zhou
- Cooperative Innovation Center of Industrial Fermentation (Ministry of Education & Hubei Province), Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), National "111" Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, School of Life and Health Sciences, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Lingling Shangguan
- Cooperative Innovation Center of Industrial Fermentation (Ministry of Education & Hubei Province), Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), National "111" Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, School of Life and Health Sciences, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiong Chen
- Cooperative Innovation Center of Industrial Fermentation (Ministry of Education & Hubei Province), Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), National "111" Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, School of Life and Health Sciences, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Jun Dai
- Cooperative Innovation Center of Industrial Fermentation (Ministry of Education & Hubei Province), Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), National "111" Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, School of Life and Health Sciences, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
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3
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Kumar D, Kumar A. Molecular Determinants Involved in Candida albicans Biofilm Formation and Regulation. Mol Biotechnol 2024; 66:1640-1659. [PMID: 37410258 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-023-00796-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Candida albicans is known for its pathogenicity, although it lives within the human body as a commensal member. The commensal nature of C. albicans is well controlled and regulated by the host's immune system as they live in the harmonized microenvironment. However, the development of certain unusual microhabitat conditions (change in pH, co-inhabiting microorganisms' population ratio, debilitated host-immune system) pokes this commensal fungus to transform into a pathogen in such a way that it starts to propagate very rapidly and tries to breach the epithelial barrier to enter the host's systemic circulations. In addition, Candida is infamous as a major nosocomial (hospital-acquired infection) agent because it enters the human body through venous catheters or medical prostheses. The hysterical mode of C. albicans growth builds its microcolony or biofilm, which is pathogenic for the host. Biofilms propose additional resistance mechanisms from host immunity or extracellular chemicals to aid their survival. Differential gene expressions and regulations within the biofilms cause altered morphology and metabolism. The genes associated with adhesiveness, hyphal/pseudo-hyphal growth, persister cell transformation, and biofilm formation by C. albicans are controlled by myriads of cell-signaling regulators. These genes' transcription is controlled by different molecular determinants like transcription factors and regulators. Therefore, this review has focused discussion on host-immune-sensing molecular determinants of Candida during biofilm formation, regulatory descriptors (secondary messengers, regulatory RNAs, transcription factors) of Candida involved in biofilm formation that could enable small-molecule drug discovery against these molecular determinants, and lead to disrupt the well-structured Candida biofilms effectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dushyant Kumar
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, 492010, India
| | - Awanish Kumar
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, 492010, India.
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Antunes M, Mota MN, Sá-Correia I. Cell envelope and stress-responsive pathways underlie an evolved oleaginous Rhodotorula toruloides strain multi-stress tolerance. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2024; 17:71. [PMID: 38807231 PMCID: PMC11134681 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02518-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The red oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula toruloides is a promising cell factory to produce microbial oils and carotenoids from lignocellulosic hydrolysates (LCH). A multi-stress tolerant strain towards four major inhibitory compounds present in LCH and methanol, was derived in our laboratory from strain IST536 (PYCC 5615) through adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) under methanol and high glycerol selective pressure. RESULTS Comparative genomic analysis suggested the reduction of the original strain ploidy from triploid to diploid, the occurrence of 21,489 mutations, and 242 genes displaying copy number variants in the evolved strain. Transcriptomic analysis identified 634 genes with altered transcript levels (465 up, 178 down) in the multi-stress tolerant strain. Genes associated with cell surface biogenesis, integrity, and remodelling and involved in stress-responsive pathways exhibit the most substantial alterations at the genome and transcriptome levels. Guided by the suggested stress responses, the multi-stress tolerance phenotype was extended to osmotic, salt, ethanol, oxidative, genotoxic, and medium-chain fatty acid-induced stresses. CONCLUSIONS The comprehensive analysis of this evolved strain provided the opportunity to get mechanistic insights into the acquisition of multi-stress tolerance and a list of promising genes, pathways, and regulatory networks, as targets for synthetic biology approaches applied to promising cell factories, toward more robust and superior industrial strains. This study lays the foundations for understanding the mechanisms underlying tolerance to multiple stresses in R. toruloides, underscoring the potential of ALE for enhancing the robustness of industrial yeast strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Antunes
- iBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal
- Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory i4HB - Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Marta N Mota
- iBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal
- Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory i4HB - Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Isabel Sá-Correia
- iBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Associate Laboratory i4HB - Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal.
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5
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Das J, Ghosh S, Tyagi K, Sahoo D, Jha G. Methionine biosynthetic genes and methionine sulfoxide reductase A are required for Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA to cause sheath blight disease in rice. Microb Biotechnol 2024; 17:e14441. [PMID: 38568774 PMCID: PMC10990046 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Rhizoctonia solani is a polyphagous necrotrophic fungal pathogen that causes sheath blight disease in rice. It deploys effector molecules as well as carbohydrate-active enzymes and enhances the production of reactive oxygen species for killing host tissues. Understanding R. solani ability to sustain growth under an oxidative-stress-enriched environment is important for developing disease control strategies. Here, we demonstrate that R. solani upregulates methionine biosynthetic genes, including Rs_MET13 during infection in rice, and double-stranded RNA-mediated silencing of these genes impairs the pathogen's ability to cause disease. Exogenous treatment with methionine restores the disease-causing ability of Rs_MET13-silenced R. solani and facilitates its growth on 10 mM H2O2-containing minimal-media. Notably, the Rs_MsrA gene that encodes methionine sulfoxide reductase A, an antioxidant enzyme involved in the repair of oxidative damage of methionine, is upregulated upon H2O2 treatment and also during infection in rice. Rs_MsrA-silenced R. solani is unable to cause disease, suggesting that it is important for the repair of oxidative damage in methionine during host colonization. We propose that spray-induced gene silencing of Rs_MsrA and designing of antagonistic molecules that block MsrA activity can be exploited as a drug target for effective control of sheath blight disease in rice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joyati Das
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali MargNew DelhiIndia
| | - Srayan Ghosh
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali MargNew DelhiIndia
- Department of BiosciencesDurham UniversityDurhamUK
| | - Kriti Tyagi
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali MargNew DelhiIndia
| | - Debashis Sahoo
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali MargNew DelhiIndia
| | - Gopaljee Jha
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali MargNew DelhiIndia
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Li H, Mo P, Zhang J, Xie Z, Liu X, Chen H, Yang L, Liu M, Zhang H, Wang P, Zhang Z. Methionine biosynthesis enzyme MoMet2 is required for rice blast fungus pathogenicity by promoting virulence gene expression via reducing 5mC modification. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1010927. [PMID: 37733784 PMCID: PMC10547190 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of fungicide resistance severely threatens crop production by limiting the availability and application of established fungicides. Therefore, it is urgent to identify new fungicidal targets for controlling plant diseases. Here, we characterized the function of a conserved homoserine O-acetyltransferase (HOA) from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae that could serve as the candidate antifungal target. Deletion of the MoMET2 and MoCYS2 genes encoding HOAs perturbed the biosynthesis of methionine and S-adenyl methionine, a methyl group donor for epigenetic modifications, and severely attenuated the development and virulence of M. oryzae. The ∆Momet2 mutant is significantly increased in 5-methylcytosine (5mC) modification that represses the expression of genes required for pathogenicity, including MoGLIK and MoCDH-CYT. We further showed that host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) targeting MoMET2 and MoCYS2 effectively controls rice blasts. Our studies revealed the importance of HOA in the development and virulence of M. oryzae, which suggests the potential feasibility of HOA as new targets for novel anti-rice blast measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huimin Li
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
| | - Pengcheng Mo
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
| | - Jun Zhang
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
| | - Zhuoer Xie
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
| | - Xinyu Liu
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Han Chen
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Leiyun Yang
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Muxing Liu
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Haifeng Zhang
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ping Wang
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Zhengguang Zhang
- Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
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7
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Jiménez-Gómez I, Valdés-Muñoz G, Moreno-Ulloa A, Pérez-Llano Y, Moreno-Perlín T, Silva-Jiménez H, Barreto-Curiel F, Sánchez-Carbente MDR, Folch-Mallol JL, Gunde-Cimerman N, Lago-Lestón A, Batista-García RA. Surviving in the Brine: A Multi-Omics Approach for Understanding the Physiology of the Halophile Fungus Aspergillus sydowii at Saturated NaCl Concentration. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:840408. [PMID: 35586858 PMCID: PMC9108488 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.840408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Although various studies have investigated osmoadaptations of halophilic fungi to saline conditions, only few analyzed the fungal mechanisms occurring at saturated NaCl concentrations. Halophilic Aspergillus sydowii is a model organism for the study of molecular adaptations of filamentous fungi to hyperosmolarity. For the first time a multi-omics approach (i.e., transcriptomics and metabolomics) was used to compare A. sydowii at saturated concentration (5.13 M NaCl) to optimal salinity (1 M NaCl). Analysis revealed 1,842 genes differentially expressed of which 704 were overexpressed. Most differentially expressed genes were involved in metabolism and signal transduction. A gene ontology multi-scale network showed that ATP binding constituted the main network node with direct interactions to phosphorelay signal transduction, polysaccharide metabolism, and transferase activity. Free amino acids significantly decreased and amino acid metabolism was reprogrammed at 5.13 M NaCl. mRNA transcriptional analysis revealed upregulation of genes involved in methionine and cysteine biosynthesis at extreme water deprivation by NaCl. No modifications of membrane fatty acid composition occurred. Upregulated genes were involved in high-osmolarity glycerol signal transduction pathways, biosynthesis of β-1,3-glucans, and cross-membrane ion transporters. Downregulated genes were related to the synthesis of chitin, mannose, cell wall proteins, starvation, pheromone synthesis, and cell cycle. Non-coding RNAs represented the 20% of the total transcripts with 7% classified as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The 42% and 69% of the total lncRNAs and RNAs encoding transcription factors, respectively, were differentially expressed. A network analysis showed that differentially expressed lncRNAs and RNAs coding transcriptional factors were mainly related to the regulation of metabolic processes, protein phosphorylation, protein kinase activity, and plasma membrane composition. Metabolomic analyses revealed more complex and unknown metabolites at saturated NaCl concentration than at optimal salinity. This study is the first attempt to unravel the molecular ecology of an ascomycetous fungus at extreme water deprivation by NaCl (5.13 M). This work also represents a pioneer study to investigate the importance of lncRNAs and transcriptional factors in the transcriptomic response to high NaCl stress in halophilic fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina Jiménez-Gómez
- Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Celular, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Gisell Valdés-Muñoz
- Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Celular, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Aldo Moreno-Ulloa
- Departamento de Innovación Biomédica, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, Mexico
| | - Yordanis Pérez-Llano
- Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Celular, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Tonatiuh Moreno-Perlín
- Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Celular, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Hortencia Silva-Jiménez
- Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Mexico
| | | | | | - Jorge Luis Folch-Mallol
- Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Nina Gunde-Cimerman
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Asunción Lago-Lestón
- Departamento de Innovación Biomédica, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, Mexico
| | - Ramón Alberto Batista-García
- Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Celular, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico
- *Correspondence: Ramón Alberto Batista-García, ;
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8
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Cowen LE, Heitman J. Showcasing Fungal Genetics & Genomics with the Genetics Society of America. Genetics 2021; 217:6128394. [PMID: 33724422 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyaa034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Leah E Cowen
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5G 1M1, Canada
| | - Joseph Heitman
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, 27710, USA
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9
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Alqahtani FM, Handy ST, Sutton CL, Farone MB. Combining Genome-Wide Gene Expression Analysis (RNA-seq) and a Gene Editing Platform (CRISPR-Cas9) to Uncover the Selectively Pro-oxidant Activity of Aurone Compounds Against Candida albicans. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:708267. [PMID: 34335543 PMCID: PMC8319688 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.708267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Candida albicans is the major fungal cause of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections worldwide with a 40% mortality rate. The scarcity of antifungal treatments due to the eukaryotic origin of fungal cells has challenged the development of selectively antifungal drugs. In an attempt to identify novel antifungal agents, aurones SH1009 and SH9051, as synthetically bioactive compounds, have been recently documented as anti-Candida agents. Since the molecular mechanisms behind the inhibitory activities of these aurones in C. albicans are unclear, this study aimed to determine the comprehensive cellular processes affected by these aurones and their molecular targets. Genome-wide transcriptional analysis of SH1009- and SH9051-treated C. albicans revealed uniquely repressed expression in different metabolic pathways, particularly trehalose and sulfur amino acid metabolic processes for SH1009 and SH9051, respectively. In contrast, the most commonly enriched process for both aurones was the up-regulation of RNA processing and ribosomal cleavages as an indicator of high oxidative stress, suggesting that a common aspect in the chemical structure of both aurones led to pro-oxidative properties. Additionally, uniquely induced responses (iron ion homeostasis for SH1009 and arginine biosynthesis for SH9051) garnered attention on key roles for the aurone functional groups. Deletion of the transcription factor for the trehalose biosynthesis pathway, Tye7p, resulted in an SH1009-resistant mutant, which also exhibited low trehalose content, validating the primary molecular target of SH1009. Aurone SH9051 uniquely simulated an exogenous supply of methionine or cysteine, leading to sulfur amino acid catabolism as evidenced by quantifying an overproduction of sulfite. Phenyl aurone, the common structure of aurones, contributed proportionally in the pro-oxidative activity through ferric ion reduction effects leading to high ROS levels. Our results determined selective and novel molecular mechanisms for aurone SH1009 and also elucidated the diverse cellular effects of different aurones based on functional groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatmah M Alqahtani
- Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, United States
| | - Scott T Handy
- Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, United States
| | - Caleb L Sutton
- Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, United States
| | - Mary B Farone
- Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, United States
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10
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Cowen LE, Heitman J. Showcasing Fungal Genetics & Genomics with the Genetics Society of America. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2021; 11:6135027. [PMID: 33585877 PMCID: PMC8022925 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkaa041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Leah E Cowen
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5G 1M1, Canada
| | - Joseph Heitman
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, 27710 USA
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