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The paf gene product modulates asexual development in Penicillium chrysogenum
Author(s) -
Hegedüs Nikoletta,
Sigl Claudia,
Zadra Ivo,
Pócsi Istvan,
Marx Florentine
Publication year - 2011
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.201000321
Subject(s) - penicillium chrysogenum , conidiation , aspergillus nidulans , biology , gene , organism , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , genetics , mutant
Penicillium chrysogenum secretes a low molecular weight, cationic and cysteine‐rich protein (PAF). It has growth inhibitory activity against the model organism Aspergillus nidulans and numerous zoo‐ and phytopathogenic fungi but shows only minimal conditional antifungal activity against the producing organism itself. In this study we provide evidence for an additional function of PAF which is distinct from the antifungal activity against putative ecologically concurrent microorganisms. Our data indicate that PAF enhances conidiation in P. chrysogenum by modulating the expression of brlA , the central regulatory gene for mitospore development. A paf deletion strain showed a significant impairment of mitospore formation which sustains our hypothesis that PAF plays an important role in balancing asexual differentiation in P. chrysogenum. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)