PUBLICATION

Selenate sensitivity of a laeA mutant is restored by overexpression of the bZIP protein MetR in Aspergillus fumigatus

Authors
Jain, S., Sekonyela, R., Knox, B., Palmer, J.M., Huttenlocher, A., Kabbage, M., Keller, N.P.
ID
ZDB-PUB-180513-13
Date
2018
Source
Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B   117: 1-10 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Huttenlocher, Anna
Keywords
Aspergillus fumigatus, selenate, sulfur metabolism, transcription factors
MeSH Terms
  • Alleles
  • Animals
  • Aspergillosis/genetics*
  • Aspergillosis/microbiology
  • Aspergillus fumigatus/genetics*
  • Aspergillus fumigatus/pathogenicity
  • Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors/genetics*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fungal Proteins/genetics*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal
  • Gliotoxin/biosynthesis
  • Gliotoxin/metabolism
  • Methionine/genetics
  • Methionine/metabolism
  • Secondary Metabolism/genetics
  • Selenic Acid
  • Sequence Deletion
  • Transcription Factors/genetics
  • Transcriptome/genetics
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
29753128 Full text @ Fungal Genet. Biol.
Abstract
LaeA is a conserved global regulator of secondary metabolism and development in filamentous fungi. Examination of Aspergillus fumigatus transcriptome data of laeA deletion mutants have been fruitful in identifying genes and molecules contributing to the laeA mutant phenotype. One of the genes significantly down regulated in A. fumigatus ΔlaeA is metR, encoding a bZIP DNA binding protein required for sulfur and methionine metabolism in fungi. LaeA and MetR deletion mutants exhibit several similarities including down regulation of sulfur assimilation and methionine metabolism genes and ability to grow on the toxic sulfur analog, sodium selenate. However, unlike ΔmetR, ΔlaeA strains are able to grow on sulfur, sulfite, and cysteine. To examine if any parameter of the ΔlaeA phenotype is due to decreased metR expression, an over-expression allele (OE::metR) was placed in a ΔlaeA background. The OE::metR allele could not significantly restore expression of MetR regulated genes in ΔlaeA but did restore sensitivity to sodium selenate. In A. nidulans a second bZIP protein, MetZ, also regulates sulfur and methionine metabolism genes. However, addition of an OE::metZ construct to the A. fumigatus ΔlaeA OE::metR strain still was unable to rescue the ΔlaeA phenotype to wildtype with regards gliotoxin synthesis and virulence in a zebrafish aspergillosis model.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping