Localizing gene regulation reveals a staggered wood decay mechanism for the brown rot fungus Postia placenta.

ABSTRACT: Wood-degrading brown rot fungi are essential recyclers of plant biomass in forest ecosystems. Their efficient cellulolytic systems, which have potential biotechnological applications, apparently depend on a combination of two mechanisms: lignocellulose oxidation (LOX) by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and polysaccharide hydrolysis by a limited set of glycoside hydrolases (GHs). Given that ROS are strongly oxidizing and nonselective, these two steps are likely segregated. A common hypothesis has been that brown rot fungi use a concentration gradient of chelated metal ions to confine ROS generation inside wood cell walls before enzymes can infiltrate. We examined an alternative: that LOX components involved in ROS production are differentially expressed by brown rot fungi ahead of GH componen

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5047196 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature