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Transcriptomic analysis of salt-stress response in Aspergillus nidulans

ABSTRACT: Adaptation to changes in the environment is crucial for the viability of all organisms. Although the importance of calcineurin in the stress response has been highlighted in filamentous fungi, little is known about the involvement of ion-responsive genes and pathways in conferring salt tolerance without calcium signaling. In this study, high-throughput RNA-seq was used to investigate salt stress-induced genes in the parent, ΔcnaB, and ΔcnaBΔcchA strains of Aspergillus nidulans, which differ greatly in their salt adaption under salt stress. In total, 2,884 differentially expressed genes including 1,382 up- and 1,502 down-regulated genes were identiﬁed. Secondary transporters, which were up-regulated to a greater extent in ΔcnaBΔcchA than in the parent or ΔcnaB strains, are likely to play important roles in response to salt stress. Furthermore, 36 genes were exclusively up-regulated in the ΔcnaBΔcchA mutant under salt stress. Functional analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed that genes involved in transport, heat shock protein binding, and cell division processes were exclusively activated in ΔcnaBΔcchA. Overall, our findings reveal that secondary transporters and stress-responsive genes may play crucial roles in salt tolerance to bypass the requirement for the CchA-calcineurin pathway, contributing to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that influence fungal salt stress adaption in Aspergillus.

ORGANISM(S): Aspergillus nidulans

PROVIDER: GSE100353 | GEO | 2017/10/04

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA391431

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Listeria monocytogenes is well known to have the ability to survive and grow under a variety of stress conditions. The ability to survive and grow under osmotic stress conditions in particular appears to be important for both growth in certain foods and food associated environments as well as for host infection. To characterize the contributions of transcriptional regulators important for stress response and virulence (i.e., Sigma B - σB and PrfA), we initially analyzed three L. monocytogenes parent strains and isogenic mutants ( delta sigB, delta prfA, and delta sigB delta prfA), representing different serotypes and lineages, for their ability to grow in BHI with 11% NaCl (1.9M) at 25°C. No significant differences were observed in terms of growth between the parent strains and their respective mutants lacking prfA (i.e. delta prfA, and delta sigB delta prfA mutant strains). While for all strains, the delta sigB mutant showed a prolonged lag phase as compared to the parent strains, maximum growth rates were only reduced for the delta sigB mutant of lineage I and IV strains. Interestingly, for the serotype 1/2b strain, the delta sigB mutant reached a higher maximum cell density than the parent strain or the delta prfA mutant. Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells invasion assays and hemolytic activity assays showed a significant role for σB in the former and for PrfA in the latter. To initially explore the mechanism that may contribute to the extended lag phase in the delta sigB mutant, microarray was performed to compare transcript levels between the lineage I, serotype 1/2b, parent strain and its isogenic delta sigB mutant in lag phase at 25°C in the presence of 11% NaCl. Microarray data showed significant lower and higher transcript levels for 135 and 173 genes, respectively, in the parent strain as compared to the delta sigB strains. Overall, 51 of the 173 σB up-regulated genes had previously been found among the 249 σB-dependent genes identified in a microarray study conducted in stationary phase cells, indicating that up to 122 genes may be transcribed in a σB-dependent manner during lag phase under salt stress. Notable genes that showed higher transcript levels in the parent strain include inlD (encoding an internalin protein that may be involved in virulence), sigH (encoding an alternative σ factor), glpK (encoding a glycerol kinase) and resD (encoding a two-component response regulator ResD); while, genes that showed lower transcript levels in the parent strain include dnaK (encoding a dihydroxyacetone kinase), groES (encoding a class I heat-shock protein GroES), grpE (encoding a co-chaperone GrpE) and fri (encoding a non-heme iron-binding ferritin). These data showed that although PrfA does not contribute to growth under osmotic stress at 25°C, σB does contribute to survival of L. monocytogenes under high salt conditions. Moreover, the σB-dependent transcriptome of L. monocytogenes lag phase cells under salt stress was characterized and includes previously identified as well as novel σB-dependent genes, including a number of stress response and virulence-associated genes.

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Transcriptomic analysis of salt-stress response in Aspergillus nidulans

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