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The fungal CCAAT-binding complex and HapX display highly variable but evolutionary conserved synergetic promoter-specific DNA recognition

ABSTRACT: To sustain iron homeostasis, microorganisms have evolved fine-tuned mechanisms for uptake, storage and detoxification of the essential metal iron. In the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, the fungal-specific bZIP-type transcription factor HapX coordinates adaption to both iron starvation and iron excess and is thereby crucial for virulence. Previous studies indicated that a HapX homodimer interacts with the CCAAT-binding complex (CBC) to cooperatively bind bipartite DNA motifs; however, the significance of the HapX and CBC interaction and the mode of HapX-DNA recognition had not been resolved. In this study, we characterized the genome-wide binding profiles of HapX using the chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq). Our ChIP-seq results, in combination with in vitro surface plasmon resonance analysis, phylogenetic comparison, and genetic analysis, revealed an astonishing plasticity of the CBC:HapX DNA-recognition mode.

ORGANISM(S): Aspergillus fumigatus

PROVIDER: GSE129969 | GEO | 2019/12/31

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Iron is an essential cofactor for a wide range of cellular processes. Previous studies have shown that siderophore-mediated uptake and intracellular handling of iron are crucial for virulence of Aspergillus fumigatus. Here we show that the bzip-type transcription factor HapX plays a crucial role in the transcriptional remodeling required for adaption to iron starvation in this opportunistic fungal pathogen. HapX was found to be interconnected in a negative feed-back loop with the previously identified iron regulator SreA: SreA repressed expression of hapX during iron sufficiency and HapX repressed sreA during iron starvation. Genome-wide transcriptional profiling and analysis of selected metabolites (protophorphyrine IX, siderophores and amino acids) indicated extensive metabolic remodeling in response to iron starvation. HapX was found to participate in both, repression and activation of genes during iron starvation. HapX was in particular required for repression of iron-dependent and mitochondrial-localized activities including respiration, TCA cycle, amino acid metabolism, iron-sulfur-cluster biosynthesis and heme biosynthesis. Pathways positively affected by HapX included production of siderophores and the ribotoxin and major allergen AspF1. Analysis of the free amino acid pool revealed HapX-dependent coordination of the production of siderophores with the supply of its precursor ornithine. Consistent with the hapX expression pattern, HapX-deficiency was deleterious with respect to growth rate and conidiation during iron depleted but not iron-replete conditions. HapX-deficiency caused significant attenuation of virulence in a murine model aspergillosis underlining that A. fumigatus faces iron starvation in the host and that the HapX-dependent metabolic reprogramming is therefore crucial for virulence. A. fumigatus 293 and hapX mutants were grown in the presence and absence of iron and in cultures shifted from no iron to iron-containing conditions after 1 h incubation. Hybridizations were performed with biological replicates for wt vs hapX +/- iron. For the iron-shift experiments, there were biological replicates for wt in both conditions and for hapX in -iron but there was only a single biological sample for hapX iron-shift sample. All hybs were performed with flip-dye pairs.

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The fungal CCAAT-binding complex and HapX display highly variable but evolutionary conserved synergetic promoter-specific DNA recognition

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