Transcriptional networks controlling asexual development in Aspergillus nidulans: An evolutionary perspective

Author:

Oier Etxebeste 1, Ainara Otamendi 1, Aitor Garzia 2, Eduardo A. Espeso 3, Marc S.
Cortese 1

Author address:

1 Laboratory of Biology, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of The Basque Country (UPV/EHU), San Sebastian, Spain;
2 Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory for RNA Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA;
3 Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain

Full conference title:

15th European Conference on Fungal Genetics 2020

Date: 20 June 2020

Abstract:

Asexual spores are the predominant vector for the spread of fungi to new substrates. In the order of Eurotiales, within ascomycota, Aspergillus nidulans has been traditionally used as a model to study the genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling asexual development, known as conidiation. The C2H2-type TF BrlA is an essential regulator of the development of asexual multicellular structures or conidiophores. BrlA levels are controlled by signal transducers collectively known as UDAs (upstream developmental activators), while it regulates the morphological transformations leading to conidia production through the CDP central developmental pathway. Here we show that BrlA emerged in the fungal order of Eurotiales, late in evolution [1]. Nevertheless, the promoter of brlA and the corresponding gene product(s) have developed the ability to recruit and control both upstream and downstream TFs that are more widely conserved in fungi, having emerged sooner. Overall, our analyses suggests that the transcriptional networks controlling conidiophore development in A. nidulans were structured as a consequence of BrlA emergence and subsequent rewiring events.

1. Etxebeste, O.; Otamendi, A.; Garzia, A.; Espeso, E. A.; Cortese, M. S. Rewiring of transcriptional networks as a major event leading to the diversity of asexual multicellularity in fungi. Crit. Rev. Microbiol. 2019, 1–16, doi:10.1080/1040841X.2019.1630359.

Link to conference website:

Link Conference abstract:

ECFG 15