Open AccessHMGB proteins are required for sexual development in Aspergillus nidulans
Author(s) -
Eszter Bokor,
Judit Ámon,
Kabichandra Keisham,
Zoltán Karácsony,
Csaba Vágvölgyi,
Zsuzsanna Hamari
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0216094
Subject(s) - aspergillus nidulans , biology , mating type , mutant , repressor , ascospore , mating , genetics , chromatin , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , regulator , gene expression , spore
Aspergillus nidulans has three high mobility group box (HMGB) proteins, HmbA, HmbB and HmbC that are chromatin-associated architectural proteins involved in DNA-related functions. By creating and studying deletion strains in both veA + and veA1 background, we have characterized the role of HmbA, HmbB and HmbC in sexual development. Expression of the mating-type MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 coding genes were found to be extremely down-regulated in all three mutants on day 4 of sexual development, which results in deficient ascospore production and/or ascospore viability in the mutants. In addition, we found that HmbA and HmbB play also a role in sensing of and response to environmental signals, while HmbC functionally interacts with VeA, a key regulator of the coordination of asexual and sexual development, as well as of secondary metabolism.