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Polycomb repressive complex 2 regulates sexual development in Neurospora crassa

ABSTRACT: In most branches of the fungal kingdom sexual development marks a dramatic shift from simple multicellular hyphae to complex fruiting bodies composed of multiple tissues and cell types. It is essential to tightly regulate development to prevent unnecessary energy investment into building these structures. Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) is a highly conserved regulator of development in multicellular organisms. In plants animals and some fungi PRC2 represses genes by depositing histone H3 lysine 27 tri-methylation (H3K27me3) in promoters and gene bodies of conditionally activated genes. In Neurospora crassa H3K27me3-associated genes are poorly conserved and stably repressed in most RNA-seq datasets. Through analysis of publicly available RNA-seq experiments we found that PRC2-methylated genes are broadly and uniquely activated during sexual development. PRC2-methylated genes comprise a distinct subset of developmentally induced genes (DIGs) characterized by an exceptionally high degree of cell-type specificity. Loss of PRC2 activity results in the precocious formation of perithecia-like structures (dubbed false perithecia) even in the absence of a compatible mating-type partner. These structures show a unique gene expression profile with activation of both PRC2-methylated and unmethylated DIGs showing evidence of a transcriptional reprogramming event. Together these data suggest that PRC2 is part of a developmental checkpoint that restricts fruiting body development to the appropriate conditions.

ORGANISM(S): Neurospora crassa

PROVIDER: GSE296621 | GEO | 2025/05/12

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Fungal fruiting body size and form are influenced by the ecology of the species, including diverse environmental stimuli. Accordingly, nutritional resources available to the fungus during development can be vital to successful production of fruiting bodies. To investigate the effect of nutrition, perithecial development of N. crassa was induced on two different media, a sparsely nutritive Synthetic Crossing Medium (SCM) and a natural Carrot Agar (CA). Protoperithecia were collected before crossing, and perithecia were collected at 2, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, and at full maturity 144 hours after crossing. No differences in fruiting body morphology were observed between the two media at any time point. A circuit of microarray hybridizations comparing cDNA from all neighboring stages was performed. For a majority of differentially expressed genes, expression was higher in SCM than in CA, and expression of core metabolic genes was particularly affected. Effects of nutrition were highest in magnitude before crossing, lowering in magnitude during early perithecial development. Interestingly, metabolic effects of the media were also large in magnitude during late perithecial development, at which stage the lower expression in CA presumably reflected the continued intake of diverse complex initial compounds, diminishing the need for expression of anabolic pathways. However, for genes with key regulatory roles in sexual development, including pheromone precursor ccg-4 and poi2, expression patterns were similar between treatments. When possible, a common nutritional environment is ideal for comparing transcriptional profiles between different fungi. Nevertheless, the observed consistency of the developmental program across media, despite considerable metabolic differentiation is reassuring. This result facilitates comparative studies that will require different nutritional resources for sexual development in different fungi. Neurospora crassa mat A FGSC#2489 and mat-a FGSC 4200: Eight perithecial developmental stages, 0hr, 2 hr, 24 hr, 48 hr, 72 hr, 96 hr, 120 hr, and 144 hr were sampled and compared

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Polycomb repressive complex 2 regulates sexual development in Neurospora crassa

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