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Transcriptional analysis of the adaptation of Ustilago maydis during growth under nitrogen fixation conditions
Author(s) -
SánchezArreguin José Alejandro,
HernandezOñate Miguel Angel,
LeónRamirez Claudia Geraldine,
RuizHerrera José
Publication year - 2017
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.201600660
Subject(s) - ustilago , biology , gene , biochemistry , fungus , nitrogen fixation , bacteria , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , botany
Regulation of genes involved in nitrogen metabolism likely plays a role in the ability of fungi to exploit and survive under different environmental situations. To learn about the mechanism of adaptation of the biotrophic fungus Ustilago maydis from a medium containing a source of fixed nitrogen, to a medium depending on the ability to fix N 2 by its bacterial endosymbiont, we explored gene expression profiles using RNA‐Seq analyses under these two conditions. The differentially expressed (DE) fungal genes were analyzed, identifying 90 genes that were regulated 24 h after shifting the fungus to media lacking ammonium nitrate as a nitrogen source. From these, mRNA levels were increased for 49 genes, whereas 41 were down‐regulated. The functional description associated to the regulated genes revealed that nine key pathways were represented, including, secondary metabolism, the metabolism of nitrogen, amino acid, fatty acid, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar, purine, peroxisome, and the regulation of actin cytoskeleton. These results suggest that the interplay of U. maydis with its N 2 fixing bacterial endosymbiont is a flexible process that may be active during the adaptation of the fungus to the different nitrogen sources.