Project description:Quorum sensing (QS) is a complex cell-cell communication mechanism that coordinates population-level behaviors in microbes. In eukaryotes, this phenomenon has been extensively described in the dimorphic yeast Candida albicans as its main QS molecule, the sesquiterpene alcohol farnesol, is responsible for various phenotypic (i.e., inhibition of yeast-to-hyphae transition, biofilm formation and, hence, pathogenesis) and metabolic (i.e., induction of oxidative stress and apoptosis) changes. Ophiostoma piceae CECT 20416 is a dimorphic saprotrophic ascomycete with biotechnological interest that also produces farnesol as a QS molecule, but in this case, the alcohol promotes the morphological transition to the mycelial form, biofilm formation, enzyme secretion, and melanin production. Here, we characterized the physiological response of Ophiostoma piceae to farnesol, and the molecular components of the QS system of this fungus have been investigated using a ‘multiomics’ approach that involved genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analyses. Some genes identified in this work are proposed as key factors in farnesol transport and signaling. We have also cataloged the genes undergoing major transcriptional changes triggered by the presence of the autoinducer, such as cell-wall remodeling, ROS protection, and melanin biosynthesis, using self-organizing maps (SOMs). This analysis could be useful for applications in the forestry industry, for enzyme production, and for the valorization of residues. Furthermore, it might as well help to investigate the QS mechanisms of clinically relevant fungi phylogenetically related to Ophiostoma.
Project description:Transcript profiles of Laccaria bicolor S238N mycelium on various media were analyzed. The array probes were designed from gene models taken from the Joint Genome Institute (JGI, department of energy) Laccaria bicolor genome sequence version 1. One goal was to evaluate the effect of nutrient deprivation on the transcriptome of Laccaria bicolor.
Project description:In order to get insights into the ability of ectomycorrhizal fungi to perceive their biotic environment as well as into the mechanisms of the interactions between ectomycorrhizal fungi and soil bacteria, we analysed the transcriptomic response of the ectomycorrhizal fungus L. bicolor and one detrimental bacterial strain during their interactions in vitro. We performed hybridizations (whole genome array) with samples derived from Collimonas fungivorans Ter331cultivated alone or with Laccaria bicolor S238N in vitro (2 control biological replicates and 2 biological replicates with L. bicolor)
