Premium
Sterigmatocystin production is restricted to hyphae located in the proximity of hülle cells
Author(s) -
Ámon Judit,
Keisham Kabichandra,
Bokor Eszter,
Kelemen Evelyn,
Vágvölgyi Csaba,
Hamari Zsuzsanna
Publication year - 2018
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.201800020
Subject(s) - sterigmatocystin , hypha , mycelium , aspergillus nidulans , biology , secondary metabolite , mycotoxin , metabolite , botany , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene , mutant
Aspergillus nidulans produces sterigmatocystin, a secondary metabolite mycotoxin, for the protection of its reproductive structures. Previous studies on grazing behavior of fungivore arthropods, regulation of sexual development, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis have revealed the association of sterigmatocystin biosynthesis with sexual reproduction, but the spatial distribution of sterigmatocystin producing hyphae within the colony has never been investigated. In this work, we aimed to locate the site of sterigmatocystin production within the colony by employing a yCFP reporter system. We demonstrated that the stcO promoter is active only in vegetative hyphae that surround groups of hülle cells and the activity decreases and eventually ceases as the distance between the hypha and the hülle cells increases. This phenomenon indicates that the vegetative mycelium might consist of morphologically uniform, but functionally different hyphae.