Sequential cold-sensitive mutations in Aspergillus fumigatus

1978 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Nielsen ◽  
Kenneth F. Gregory

Mutants of the thermotolerant fungus Aspergillus fumigatus I-21 (ATCC 32722) unable to grow at 37 °C were sought. Cold-sensitive mutants were enriched from progeny spores of γ-irradiated conidia by two or more incubations at various nonpermissive temperatures alternating with filtrations through cheesecloth. The approximate minimum, optimum, and maximum growth temperatures of the parent were 12, 40, and 50 °C, respectively. Mutants unable to grow at 37 °C were not successfully isolated directly from the wild type. A mutant unable to grow at 25 °C was isolated and mutations further increasing the cold sensitivity by increments of 3–5 °C were found to occur. Mutants completely unable to grow at 37 °C were obtained by five sequential mutations. All mutants grew as fast as the wild-type parent at 45 °C and higher. Each mutant produced revenants able to grow not only at the nonpermissive temperature used for its isolation but also at lower temperatures.

1981 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Arseneau ◽  
Kenneth F. Gregory

The mechanism of cold sensitivity of Aspergillus fumigatus ON5, a 37 °C-sensitive mutant derived from A. fumigatus I-21 (ATCC 32722) by five sequential mutations, was investigated. The rate of in vivo protein synthesis by ON5 was not affected for 2 h following a shift from 45 to 34 °C, but the rate of in vivo RNA synthesis dropped almost immediately. The RNA polymerases of ON5 possessed wild-type activity in vitro at a nonpermissive temperature (34 °C) indicating that the reduction in the rate of in vivo RNA synthesis did not result from cold sensitivity in transcription, but was possibly a result of rapid feedback inhibition of transcription. Mutant ON5 was not able to produce ribosomes at a nonpermissive temperature as evidenced by the fact that no 3H-labelled amino acids were incorporated into the monosome, large ribosomal subunit, or small ribosomal subunit at 34 °C. Ribosomal subunit assembly or ribosomal RNA processing appears, therefore, to be the cold-sensitive cellular function in ON5.


1996 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Schilke ◽  
J Forster ◽  
J Davis ◽  
P James ◽  
W Walter ◽  
...  

SSH1, a newly identified member of the heat shock protein (hsp70) multigene family of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, encodes a protein localized to the mitochondrial matrix. Deletion of the SSH1 gene results in extremely slow growth at 23 degrees C or 30 degrees C, but nearly wild-type growth at 37 degrees C. The matrix of the mitochondria contains another hsp70, Ssc1, which is essential for growth and required for translocation of proteins into mitochondria. Unlike SSC1 mutants, an SSH1 mutant showed no detectable defects in import of several proteins from the cytosol to the matrix compared to wild type. Increased expression of Ssc1 partially suppressed the cold-sensitive growth defect of the SSH1 mutant, suggesting that when present in increased amounts, Ssc1 can at least partially carry out the normal functions of Ssh1. Spontaneous suppressors of the cold-sensitive phenotype of an SSH1 null mutant were obtained at a high frequency at 23 degrees C, and were all found to be respiration deficient. 15 of 16 suppressors that were analyzed lacked mitochondrial DNA, while the 16th had reduced amounts. We suggest that Ssh1 is required for normal mitochondrial DNA replication, and that disruption of this process in ssh1 cells results in a defect in mitochondrial function at low temperatures.


Genetics ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-428
Author(s):  
Richard B Waring ◽  
Claudio Scazzocchio

ABSTRACT Four-point mitochondrial crosses were conducted in heterokaryons of Aspergillus nidulans. The mutations used were (oliA1), conferring resistance to oligomycin, (camA112), conferring resistance to chloramphenicol; (cs-67), conferring cold-sensitivity, and (sumD16), a suppressor of (cs-67). Initially, the crosses were conducted by observing the segregation of extranuclear markers in heterokaryotic sectors emerging from the original point of heterokaryosis. This showed that (camA112), (cs-67) and (sumD16) were linked but were probably all unlinked to (oliA1). Second, four-point crosses were conducted using a double marker selection technique, in which (camA112) and (oliA1) were always set in repulsion and the frequency of the phenotypes produced by the segregation of the mutant and wild-type alleles of (cs-67) and (sumD) were observed in (camA112 oliA1) recombinants. From these results we concluded that (camA112), (cs-67) and (sumD16) were linked and probably mapped in the order given. It was observed that the two nuclear types of conidia from a heterokaryon often had a dissimilar frequency distribution of the segregants of a mitochondrial cross.


1981 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne L. Levadoux ◽  
Kenneth F. Gregory ◽  
Ann Taylor

From Aspergillus fumigatus I-21 (ATCC 32722), which grows at temperatures from 12 to 50 °C, three multistep, independently derived, cold-sensitive mutants unable to grow at 37 °C or below (Cs-37) were obtained by sequential exposure to ethylmethane sulfonate (strain AT2) or N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (AT1 and AT3). These mutants and ON5, a five-step Cs-37 mutant, were marked by mutations affecting spore color and nutritional requirements and crossed in four combinations by classical parasexual means.The heterokaryons demonstrated partial complementation with respect to auxotrophic requirements (suboptimal growth on minimal medium) and cold sensitivity (growth at 37 °C but not at 25 °C). Most presumed diploids, formed by exposure of the heterokaryons to d-camphor vapors, showed complete complementation but were unstable, as demonstrated by variations in spore sizes and markedly different ratios of segregant classes derived from different clones.Analysis of the segregants of the diploids or aneuploids, induced by Benomyl, indicated that multiple genes were responsible for cold sensitivity in each Cs-37 mutant, since segregants with various levels of cold sensitivity were obtained. The higher than predicted frequency of reversion to temperatures two or more steps back in the sequence of cold sensitivity mutations suggested that these genes or their products interacted. No Cs-37 segregant yielding a consistently lower frequency of revertants than the original mutants was obtained.


1983 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 1756-1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Zimmermann ◽  
J C Schaer ◽  
D E Muller ◽  
J Schneider ◽  
N M Miodonski-Maculewicz ◽  
...  

A heat-sensitive (hs, arrested at 39.5 degrees C, multiplying at 33 degrees C) and a cold-sensitive (cs, arrested at 33 degrees C, multiplying at 39.5 degrees C) cell cycle variant were isolated from an undifferentiated P-815 murine mastocytoma line. At the respective nonpermissive temperature, both the hs and the cs variant cells were reversibly arrested with a DNA content, typical of G1 phase. The cells of two cs variant subclones, when exposed to the nonpermissive temperature of 33 degrees C, formed metachromatically staining granules with an ultrastructure resembling that of mature mast cells. In addition, the cellular 5-hydroxytryptamine content underwent a marked increase, and the cells responded to compound 48/80 by degranulation as described for normal mast cells. On the other hand, in cells of two hs variant subclones, essentially no mast cell granules were detectable at either 33 or 39.5 degrees C. As previously reported, the cs cell cycle variant phenotype is expressed dominantly in heterokaryons obtained by fusing cs with wild-type cells, whereas hs cell cycle variant cells, similar to other hs mutants, were found to behave recessively under these conditions. Thus the state of proliferative quiescence induced in the cs cells at 33 degrees C is qualitatively different from the state of cell cycle arrest observed in hs cells at 39.5 degrees C and may represent a model for proliferative quiescence of differentiated cells in the intact organism.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 155 (4) ◽  
pp. 1667-1682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas N Kuhn ◽  
David A Brow

AbstractThe highly conserved splicing factor Prp8 has been implicated in multiple stages of the splicing reaction. However, assignment of a specific function to any part of the 280-kD U5 snRNP protein has been difficult, in part because Prp8 lacks recognizable functional or structural motifs. We have used a large-scale screen for Saccharomyces cerevisiae PRP8 alleles that suppress the cold sensitivity caused by U4-cs1, a mutant U4 RNA that blocks U4/U6 unwinding, to identify with high resolution five distinct regions of PRP8 involved in the control of spliceosome activation. Genetic interactions between two of these regions reveal a potential long-range intramolecular fold. Identification of a yeast two-hybrid interaction, together with previously reported results, implicates two other regions in direct and indirect contacts to the U1 snRNP. In contrast to the suppressor mutations in PRP8, loss-of-function mutations in the genes for two other splicing factors implicated in U4/U6 unwinding, Prp44 (Brr2/Rss1/Slt22/Snu246) and Prp24, show synthetic enhancement with U4-cs1. On the basis of these results we propose a model in which allosteric changes in Prp8 initiate spliceosome activation by (1) disrupting contacts between the U1 snRNP and the U4/U6-U5 tri-snRNP and (2) orchestrating the activities of Prp44 and Prp24.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6865
Author(s):  
Eun Seon Lee ◽  
Joung Hun Park ◽  
Seong Dong Wi ◽  
Ho Byoung Chae ◽  
Seol Ki Paeng ◽  
...  

The thioredoxin-h (Trx-h) family of Arabidopsis thaliana comprises cytosolic disulfide reductases. However, the physiological function of Trx-h2, which contains an additional 19 amino acids at its N-terminus, remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the molecular function of Trx-h2 both in vitro and in vivo and found that Arabidopsis Trx-h2 overexpression (Trx-h2OE) lines showed significantly longer roots than wild-type plants under cold stress. Therefore, we further investigated the role of Trx-h2 under cold stress. Our results revealed that Trx-h2 functions as an RNA chaperone by melting misfolded and non-functional RNAs, and by facilitating their correct folding into active forms with native conformation. We showed that Trx-h2 binds to and efficiently melts nucleic acids (ssDNA, dsDNA, and RNA), and facilitates the export of mRNAs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm under cold stress. Moreover, overexpression of Trx-h2 increased the survival rate of the cold-sensitive E. coli BX04 cells under low temperature. Thus, our data show that Trx-h2 performs function as an RNA chaperone under cold stress, thus increasing plant cold tolerance.


2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 4146-4153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaid Al-Nakeeb ◽  
Ajay Sudan ◽  
Adam R. Jeans ◽  
Lea Gregson ◽  
Joanne Goodwin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTItraconazole is used for the prevention and treatment of infections caused byAspergillus fumigatus. An understanding of the pharmacodynamics of itraconazole against wild-type and triazole-resistant strains provides a basis for innovative therapeutic strategies for treatment of infections. Anin vitromodel of the human alveolus was used to define the pharmacodynamics of itraconazole. Galactomannan was used as a biomarker. The effect of systemic and airway administration of itraconazole was assessed, as was a combination of itraconazole administered to the airway and systemically administered 5FC. Systemically administered itraconazole against the wild type induced a concentration-dependent decline in galactomannan in the alveolar and endothelial compartments. No exposure-response relationships were apparent for the L98H, M220T, or G138C mutant. The administration of itraconazole to the airway resulted in comparable exposure-response relationships to those observed with systemic therapy. This was achieved without detectable concentrations of drug within the endothelial compartment. The airway administration of itraconazole resulted in a definite but submaximal effect in the endothelial compartment against the L98H mutant. The administration of 5FC resulted in a concentration-dependent decline in galactomannan in both the alveolar and endothelial compartments. The combination of airway administration of itraconazole and systemically administered 5FC was additive. Systemic administration of itraconazole is ineffective against Cyp51 mutants. The airway administration of itraconazole is effective for the treatment of wild-type strains and appears to have some activity against the L98H mutants. Combination with other agents, such as 5FC, may enable the attainment of near-maximal antifungal activity.


2004 ◽  
pp. 1297-1304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam C. Hall ◽  
Kathleen C. Rowan ◽  
Renna J. N. Stevens ◽  
Jill C. Kelley ◽  
Neil L. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Type A ◽  

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. 1091-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Steinbach ◽  
Robert A. Cramer ◽  
B. Zachary Perfect ◽  
Yohannes G. Asfaw ◽  
Theodor C. Sauer ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Calcineurin is implicated in a myriad of human diseases as well as homeostasis and virulence in several major human pathogenic microorganisms. The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is a leading cause of infectious death in the rapidly expanding immunocompromised patient population. Current antifungal treatments for invasive aspergillosis are often ineffective, and novel therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. We demonstrate that a mutant of A. fumigatus lacking the calcineurin A (cnaA) catalytic subunit exhibited defective hyphal morphology related to apical extension and polarized growth, which resulted in drastically decreased filamentation. The ΔcnaA mutant lacked the extensive lattice of invading hyphae seen with the wild-type and complemented strains. Sporulation was also affected in the ΔcnaA mutant, including morphological conidial defects with the absence of surface rodlets and the added presence of disjunctors creating long conidial chains. Infection with the ΔcnaA mutant in several distinct animal models with different types of immunosuppression and inoculum delivery led to a profound attenuation of pathogenicity compared to infection with the wild-type and complemented strains. Lung tissue from animals infected with the ΔcnaA mutant showed a complete absence of hyphae, in contrast to tissue from animals infected with the wild-type and complemented strains. Quantitative fungal burden and pulmonary infarct scoring confirmed these findings. Our results support the clinical observation that substantially decreasing fungal growth can prevent disease establishment and decrease mortality. Our findings reveal that calcineurin appears to play a globally conserved role in the virulence of several pathogenic fungi and yet plays specialized roles in each and can be an excellent target for therapeutic intervention.


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