Cross-talk between light and glucose regulation controls toxin production and morphogenesis in Aspergillus nidulans.

ABSTRACT: Light is a major environmental stimulus that has a broad effect on organisms, triggering a cellular response that results in an optimal adaptation enhancing fitness and survival. In fungi, light affects growth, and causes diverse morphological changes such as those leading to reproduction. Light can also affect fungal metabolism, including the biosynthesis of natural products. In this study we show that in Aspergillus nidulans the effect of light on the production of the sterigmatocystin (ST) toxin depends on the glucose concentration. In cultures grown with 1% glucose and exposed to light, ST production was lower than when grown in the dark. This lower ST production coincided with an elevated rate of cellular damage with partial loss of nuclear integrity and vacuolated cytoplasm. However,

SUBMITTER: Atoui A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2982864 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature