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A dually located multi‐ HMG ‐box protein of A spergillus nidulans has a crucial role in conidial and ascospore germination
Author(s) -
Karácsony Zoltán,
Gácser Attila,
Vágvölgyi Csaba,
Scazzocchio Claudio,
Hamari Zsuzsanna
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/mmi.12772
Subject(s) - biology , ascospore , genetics , podospora anserina , gene , aspergillus nidulans , fungal protein , rna interference , rna binding protein , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , rna , spore , saccharomyces cerevisiae , mutant
Summary Seven HMG ‐box proteins of A spergillus nidulans have been identified in the genomic databases. Three of these have the characteristics of non‐specific DNA ‐binding proteins. One of these, AN 1267 ( H mb B ), comprises one canonical HMG ‐box in its C ‐terminus and upstream of the canonical box two structurally related boxes, to be called S hadow‐ HMG ‐boxes. This protein defines, together with the P odospora anserina mt HMG 1, a clade of proteins present in the P ezizomycotina, with orthologues in some of the Taphrinomycotina. H mb B localizes primarily to the mitochondria but occasionally in nuclei. The deletion of the cognate gene results in a number of pleiotropic effects, including those on hyphal morphology, sensitivity to oxidative stress, absence of sterigmatocystin production and changes in the profile of conidial metabolites. The most striking phenotype of deletion strains is a dramatic decrease in conidial and ascospore viability. We show that this is most likely due to the protein being essential to maintain mitochondrial DNA in spores.