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Influence of farnesol on the morphogenesis of Aspergillus niger
Author(s) -
Lorek Justine,
Pöggeler Stefanie,
Weide Mirko R.,
Breves Roland,
Bockmühl Dirk P.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of basic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.58
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1521-4028
pISSN - 0233-111X
DOI - 10.1002/jobm.200700292
Subject(s) - conidiation , farnesol , aspergillus niger , mycelium , biology , aspergillus nidulans , candida albicans , yeast , microbiology and biotechnology , conidium , quorum sensing , biochemistry , virulence , botany , gene , mutant
Farnesol was the first quorum‐sensing regulator to be found in eukaryotic cells. In Candida albicans , a dimorphic fungal human pathogen, farnesol blocks the yeast‐to‐filamentous growth transition. Here we show that in Aspergillus niger farnesol acts as an inhibitor of conidiation: Colonies grown on media containing farnesol were unable to develop conidia. Although farnesol treated A. niger cultures exhibited a colony morphology resembling the “fluffy” phenotype of A. nidulans , which is caused by a hyperactive G‐protein/cAMP pathway, the intracellular level of cAMP in A. niger mycelia grown in presence of farnesol is greatly diminished. Furthermore, whereas inhibiting adenylyl cyclase led to a farnesol‐like effect, the addition of external cAMP inhibited conidiation without causing a “fluffy” phenotype. This suggests that the mechanisms regulating conidiation in A. niger and A. nidulans are different. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)