This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Navarro, R. E.
Right arrow Articles by Aguirre, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Navarro, R. E.
Right arrow Articles by Aguirre, J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, November 1998, p. 5733-5738, Vol. 180, No. 21
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Posttranscriptional Control Mediates Cell Type-Specific Localization of Catalase A during Aspergillus nidulans Development

Rosa E. Navarro and Jesús Aguirre*

Departamento de Genética Molecular, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 México, D.F.

Received 19 May 1998/Accepted 17 August 1998

Two differentially regulated catalase genes have been identified in the fungus Aspergillus nidulans. The catA gene belongs to a class whose transcripts are specifically induced during asexual sporulation (conidiation) and encodes a catalase accumulated in conidia. Using a developmental mutant affected in the brlA gene, which is unable to form conidia but capable of producing sexual spores (ascospores), we demonstrated that the catA mRNA accumulated during induction of conidiation but did not produce CatA protein. In contrast, high levels of catalase A activity were detected in the ascospores produced by this mutant, indicating that the catA gene is posttranscriptionally regulated. The same type of regulation was observed for a catA::lacZ translational gene fusion, suggesting that the catA message 5' untranslated region could be involved in translational control during development. In a wild-type strain, beta -galactosidase activity driven from the catA::lacZ gene fusion was low in hyphae and increased 50-fold during conidiation and 620-fold in isolated conidia. Consistent with this finding spatial expression of the reporter gene was restricted to metulae, phialides, and conidia. Conidium-associated expression was maintained in a stuA mutant, in which the conidiophore cell pattern is severely deranged. catA mRNA accumulation was also observed when vegetative mycelia was subject to oxidative, osmotic, and nitrogen or carbon starvation stress. Nevertheless, catalase A activity was restricted to the conidia produced under nutrient starvation. Our results provide support for a model in which translation of the catA message, accumulated during conidiation or in response to different types of stress, is linked to the morphogenetic processes involved in asexual and sexual spore formation. Our findings also indicate that brlA-independent mechanisms regulate the expression of genes encoding spore-specific products.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de Genética Molecular, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-242, 04510 México, D.F. Phone: (525) 622-5651. Fax: (525) 622-5630. E-mail: jaguirre{at}ifisiol.unam.mx.

Journal of Bacteriology, November 1998, p. 5733-5738, Vol. 180, No. 21
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Vargas-Perez, I., Sanchez, O., Kawasaki, L., Georgellis, D., Aguirre, J. (2007). Response Regulators SrrA and SskA Are Central Components of a Phosphorelay System Involved in Stress Signal Transduction and Asexual Sporulation in Aspergillus nidulans. Eukaryot Cell 6: 1570-1583 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Missall, T. A., Lodge, J. K., McEwen, J. E. (2004). Mechanisms of Resistance to Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress: Implications for Fungal Survival in Mammalian Hosts. Eukaryot Cell 3: 835-846 [Full Text]  
  • Scherer, M., Wei, H., Liese, R., Fischer, R. (2002). Aspergillus nidulans Catalase-Peroxidase Gene (cpeA) Is Transcriptionally Induced during Sexual Development through the Transcription Factor StuA. Eukaryot Cell 1: 725-735 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Prade, R. A., Ayoubi, P., Krishnan, S., Macwana, S., Russell, H. (2001). Accumulation of Stress and Inducer-Dependent Plant-Cell-Wall-Degrading Enzymes During Asexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans. Genetics 157: 957-967 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kawasaki, L., Aguirre, J. (2001). Multiple Catalase Genes Are Differentially Regulated in Aspergillus nidulans. J. Bacteriol. 183: 1434-1440 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Noventa-Jordao, M. A., Couto, R. M., Goldman, M. H. S., Aguirre, J., Iyer, S., Caplan, A., Terenzi, H. F., Goldman, G. H. (1999). Catalase activity is necessary for heat-shock recovery in Aspergillus nidulans germlings. Microbiology 145: 3229-3234 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»