Sex-specific expression during asexual development of Neurospora crassa under constant light condition
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Neurospora crassa
PROVIDER: GSE26209 | GEO | 2011/06/06
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA134965
REPOSITORIES: GEO
Similar Datasets
Project description:It is widely assumed that sex-determination loci have little impact upon dominant stage in the life history of filamentous fungi, asexual development. However, this hypothesis has not been thoroughly investigated. To investigate differences between mating types during asexual development, total RNA was sampled from otherwise largely isogenic Mat-A and Mat-a N. crassa strains at early, middle, and late clonal stages of development under a condition of constant light. Mating-type loci, pheromone precursor and receptor genes were assayed with real-time PCR. Mating loci were increasingly expressed during asexual development, and expression of pheromone precursors ccg-4 and mfa-1 and receptors pre-1 and pre-2 were detected in both mating types in all development stages. A circuit of microarray hybridizations of cDNA samples from all developmental stages was also performed. Gene expression for both mating types throughout vegetative development were characterized for developmental markers such as transcription factors, for genes related to conidiation, internal clock, cell division cycle, heat shock, and for light responsive genes. We observed significant differences in overall gene expression between the mating types across clonal development, especially at late development stages. The Mat-A genotype showed a higher expression level than Mat-a for many genes, and demonstrated greater transcriptional regulatory activity. Significant up-regulation of expression was observed for many late light responsive genes at late asexual development stages in both mating types. Further investigation of the impact of light and the roles of light response genes in asexual development in this fungus are warranted. Neurospora crassa mat A FGSC#2489 and mat-a FGSC 4200: Three developmental stages, 36hr, 60hr, 96 hr were sampled and compared
2011-06-06 | E-GEOD-26209 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Haploid budding yeast has two mating types, defined by the alleles of the MAT locus, MATa and MATα. Mating occurs when two haploid cells of opposite mating types signal to each other using reciprocal pheromones and receptors, polarize and grow towards each other, and eventually fuse to form a single diploid cell. The pheromones and receptors are necessary and sufficient to define a mating type, but other mating type-specific proteins make mating more efficient. We examined the role of these proteins by genetically engineering “transvestite” cells that swap the pheromone, pheromone receptor, and pheromone processing factors of one mating type for another. These cells can mate with each other, but their mating is inefficient. By characterizing their mating defects and examining their transcriptomes, we found Afb1 (a-factor barrier), a novel MATα-specific protein that interferes with a-factor, the pheromone secreted by MATa cells. We show that strong pheromone secretion is essential for efficient mating and that the weak mating of transvestites can be improved by boosting their pheromone production. Using synthetic biology, it is possible to characterize the factors that control efficiency in biological processes. In the case of budding yeast mating, selection for increased mating efficiency is likely to have continually boosted pheromone levels and the ability to discriminate between partners who make more (potentially fitter) and less (potentially less fit) pheromones. This sensitivity to which partner makes more pheromone comes at a cost: it means mating is not robust in situations where all potential partners make less pheromone.
2014-01-07 | GSE49372 | GEO
Project description:Haploid budding yeast has two mating types, defined by the alleles of the MAT locus, MATa and MATM-NM-1. Mating occurs when two haploid cells of opposite mating types signal to each other using reciprocal pheromones and receptors, polarize and grow towards each other, and eventually fuse to form a single diploid cell. The pheromones and receptors are necessary and sufficient to define a mating type, but other mating type-specific proteins make mating more efficient. We examined the role of these proteins by genetically engineering M-bM-^@M-^\transvestiteM-bM-^@M-^] cells that swap the pheromone, pheromone receptor, and pheromone processing factors of one mating type for another. These cells can mate with each other, but their mating is inefficient. By characterizing their mating defects and examining their transcriptomes, we found Afb1 (a-factor barrier), a novel MATM-NM-1-specific protein that interferes with a-factor, the pheromone secreted by MATa cells. We show that strong pheromone secretion is essential for efficient mating and that the weak mating of transvestites can be improved by boosting their pheromone production. Using synthetic biology, it is possible to characterize the factors that control efficiency in biological processes. In the case of budding yeast mating, selection for increased mating efficiency is likely to have continually boosted pheromone levels and the ability to discriminate between partners who make more (potentially fitter) and less (potentially less fit) pheromones. This sensitivity to which partner makes more pheromone comes at a cost: it means mating is not robust in situations where all potential partners make less pheromone. 4 conditions were analysed, each with 3 biological replicates. The conditions were unstimulated MATa cells in YPD. Stimulated MATa cells in YPD+10nM M-NM-1-factor. Unstimulated MATM-NM-1 cells in YPD. Stimulated MATM-NM-1 cells in YPD+10nM M-NM-1-factor.
2014-01-07 | E-GEOD-49372 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Modes of sexual reproduction in eukaryotic organisms are highly diversified. The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans undergoes a phenotypic switch from the white to the opaque phase in order to become mating-competent. In this study, we report that functionally and morphologically differentiated white and opaque cells show a coordinating behavior in the process of mating. Although white cells are mating-incompetent, they are induced to produce sexual pheromones when treated with opposite pheromones or interacted with opaque cells of an opposite mating type. In a co-culture system, pheromones released by white cells induce opaque cells to form mating projections and thus facilitate both opposite- and same-sex mating of opaque cells. Deletion of genes encoding the pheromone precursor proteins and inactivation of the pheromone response signaling pathway (Ste2-MAPK-Cph1) impair the promoting role of white cells (MTLa) in sexual mating of opaque cells. White and opaque cells communicate via a paracrine pheromone signaling and thus create an environment conducive to sexual mating. This coordination behavior of the two different cell types may be a trade-off strategy between sexual and asexual lifestyles in C. albicans. total RNA profiles of white cell treated with pheromone
2014-10-23 | E-GEOD-56039 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The potential for sexual reproduction in Aspergillus oryzae was assessed by investigating the presence and functionality of MAT genes. Previous genome studies had identified a MAT1-1 gene in the RIB40 reference strain. We now report the existence of a complimentary MAT1-2 gene and sequencing of an idiomorph region from A. oryzae strain AO6. This allowed the development of a PCR diagnostic assay, which detected isolates of MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 genotype among 180 strains assayed including industrial tane-koji isolates. Strains used for sake and miso production showed a near 1:1 ratio of MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 mating-types, whereas strains used for soy sauce production showed a significant bias towards the MAT1-2 mating type. MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 isogenic strains were then created by genetic manipulation of the resident idiomorph, and comparisons were made of gene expression by DNA microarray and RT-PCR methodologies under conditions when MAT genes were expressed. 33 genes were found to be up-regulated greater than 10-fold in either the MAT1-1 host or MAT1-2 gene replacement strains relative to each other, showing that both MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 genes functionally regulate gene expression in A. oryzae in a mating-type dependent manner, the first such report from a supposedly asexual fungus. MAT1-1 expression specifically up-regulated an a-pheromone precursor gene, but most genes affected were of unknown function. Results are consistent with a heterothallic breeding system in A. oryzae, and prospects for the discovery of a sexual cycle are discussed. On a condition that induces mating-type genes descrived in growth protocol section, each cogenic MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 mating-type strains were processed into RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. In a speculation that genes involved in putative mating process were reguated in mating-type dependent manner, we designed the cogenic strains that differs only in mating-type gene locus to analyze differential gene expression of MAT1-1 vs MAT1-2 strains.
2012-04-29 | E-GEOD-33542 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Modes of sexual reproduction in eukaryotic organisms are highly diversified. The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans undergoes a phenotypic switch from the white to the opaque phase in order to become mating-competent. In this study, we report that functionally and morphologically differentiated white and opaque cells show a coordinating behavior in the process of mating. Although white cells are mating-incompetent, they are induced to produce sexual pheromones when treated with opposite pheromones or interacted with opaque cells of an opposite mating type. In a co-culture system, pheromones released by white cells induce opaque cells to form mating projections and thus facilitate both opposite- and same-sex mating of opaque cells. Deletion of genes encoding the pheromone precursor proteins and inactivation of the pheromone response signaling pathway (Ste2-MAPK-Cph1) impair the promoting role of white cells (MTLa) in sexual mating of opaque cells. White and opaque cells communicate via a paracrine pheromone signaling and thus create an environment conducive to sexual mating. This coordination behavior of the two different cell types may be a trade-off strategy between sexual and asexual lifestyles in C. albicans.
2014-10-23 | GSE56039 | GEO
Project description:The potential for sexual reproduction in Aspergillus oryzae was assessed by investigating the presence and functionality of MAT genes. Previous genome studies had identified a MAT1-1 gene in the RIB40 reference strain. We now report the existence of a complimentary MAT1-2 gene and sequencing of an idiomorph region from A. oryzae strain AO6. This allowed the development of a PCR diagnostic assay, which detected isolates of MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 genotype among 180 strains assayed including industrial tane-koji isolates. Strains used for sake and miso production showed a near 1:1 ratio of MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 mating-types, whereas strains used for soy sauce production showed a significant bias towards the MAT1-2 mating type. MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 isogenic strains were then created by genetic manipulation of the resident idiomorph, and comparisons were made of gene expression by DNA microarray and RT-PCR methodologies under conditions when MAT genes were expressed. 33 genes were found to be up-regulated greater than 10-fold in either the MAT1-1 host or MAT1-2 gene replacement strains relative to each other, showing that both MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 genes functionally regulate gene expression in A. oryzae in a mating-type dependent manner, the first such report from a supposedly asexual fungus. MAT1-1 expression specifically up-regulated an a-pheromone precursor gene, but most genes affected were of unknown function. Results are consistent with a heterothallic breeding system in A. oryzae, and prospects for the discovery of a sexual cycle are discussed.
2012-04-30 | GSE33542 | GEO
Project description:Abstract BACKGROUND: Mating-type loci in yeasts and ascomycotan filamentous fungi (Pezizomycotina) encode master transcriptional factors that play a critical role in sexual development. Genome-wide analyses of mating-type-specification circuits and mating-type target genes are available in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe; however, no such analyses have been performed in heterothallic (self-incompatible) Pezizomycotina. The heterothallic fungus Podospora anserina serves as a model for understanding the basic features of mating-type control. Its mat+ and mat- mating types are determined by dissimilar allelic sequences. The mat- sequence contains three genes, designated FMR1, SMR1 and SMR2, while the mat+ sequence contains one gene, FPR1. FMR1 and FPR1 are the major regulators of fertilization, and this study presents a genome-wide view of their target genes and analyzes their target gene regulation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The transcriptomic profiles of the mat+ and mat- strains revealed 157 differentially transcribed genes, and transcriptomic analysis of fmr1(-) and fpr1(-) mutant strains was used to determine the regulatory actions exerted by FMR1 and FPR1 on these differentially transcribed genes. All possible combinations of transcription repression and/or activation by FMR1 and/or FPR1 were observed. Furthermore, 10 additional mating-type target genes were identified that were up- or down-regulated to the same level in mat+ and mat- strains. Of the 167 genes identified, 32 genes were selected for deletion, which resulted in the identification of two genes essential for the sexual cycle. Interspecies comparisons of mating-type target genes revealed significant numbers of orthologous pairs, although transcriptional profiles were not conserved between species. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study represents the first comprehensive genome-wide analysis of mating-type direct and indirect target genes in a heterothallic filamentous fungus. Mating-type transcription factors have many more target genes than are found in yeasts and exert a much greater diversity of regulatory actions on target genes, most of which are not directly related to mating.
2011-12-22 | GSE27297 | GEO
Project description:Abstract BACKGROUND: Mating-type loci in yeasts and ascomycotan filamentous fungi (Pezizomycotina) encode master transcriptional factors that play a critical role in sexual development. Genome-wide analyses of mating-type-specification circuits and mating-type target genes are available in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe; however, no such analyses have been performed in heterothallic (self-incompatible) Pezizomycotina. The heterothallic fungus Podospora anserina serves as a model for understanding the basic features of mating-type control. Its mat+ and mat- mating types are determined by dissimilar allelic sequences. The mat- sequence contains three genes, designated FMR1, SMR1 and SMR2, while the mat+ sequence contains one gene, FPR1. FMR1 and FPR1 are the major regulators of fertilization, and this study presents a genome-wide view of their target genes and analyzes their target gene regulation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The transcriptomic profiles of the mat+ and mat- strains revealed 157 differentially transcribed genes, and transcriptomic analysis of fmr1(-) and fpr1(-) mutant strains was used to determine the regulatory actions exerted by FMR1 and FPR1 on these differentially transcribed genes. All possible combinations of transcription repression and/or activation by FMR1 and/or FPR1 were observed. Furthermore, 10 additional mating-type target genes were identified that were up- or down-regulated to the same level in mat+ and mat- strains. Of the 167 genes identified, 32 genes were selected for deletion, which resulted in the identification of two genes essential for the sexual cycle. Interspecies comparisons of mating-type target genes revealed significant numbers of orthologous pairs, although transcriptional profiles were not conserved between species. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study represents the first comprehensive genome-wide analysis of mating-type direct and indirect target genes in a heterothallic filamentous fungus. Mating-type transcription factors have many more target genes than are found in yeasts and exert a much greater diversity of regulatory actions on target genes, most of which are not directly related to mating. With GPL10116 : 4 conditions each with four biological replicates :mat+, mat-, fpr1-, fmr1-; common reference is a pool of four conditions M48h, M96h, C48h and C96h ; Conditions are labelled in Cy3 and the common reference in Cy5
2011-12-22 | E-GEOD-27297 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Yeast chromosome III contains the mating type loci that provide a paradigm for long-range interactions between distant loci. Yeast switch mating type by gene conversion between the MAT locus and either of two silent loci (HML or HMR) on opposite ends of the chromosome. This long-range process is mating type-specific so that MATa cells choose HML as template, while MATα cells use HMR. The Recombination Enhancer (RE), located on the left arm regulates this process. One long-standing hypothesis is that switching is guided by mating type-specific, and possibly RE-dependent three-dimensional folding of chromosome III. Here we used Hi-C, 5C, and live cell imaging to characterize the conformation of chromosome III in both mating types in non-switching strains. We discovered a mating type-specific difference in the folding of the left arm: in MATa cells the left arm is located closely to the centromere-proximal portion of the chromosome as well as to MAT, whereas it is more extended away in MATα cells. Deletion analysis showed that a 1 kb subregion within the RE, which is not necessary during switching, abolished mating type-dependent chromosome folding. In this mutant the conformation of chromosome III is the same in both mating types, but distinct from the wild type MATa or MATα conformations, indicating that the RE induces conformational changes in both mating types. The RE is therefore a composite element with one subregion essential for selecting the appropriate donor during switching, and a separate region involved in modulating chromosome conformation prior to switching.
2015-11-20 | GSE73890 | GEO