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Volume 6, Issue 8

Defining the transcriptional responses of to cation/alkaline pH stress and the role of the transcription factor SltA Open Access

Abstract

Fungi have developed the ability to overcome extreme growth conditions and thrive in hostile environments. The model fungus tolerates, for example, ambient alkalinity up to pH 10 or molar concentrations of multiple cations. The ability to grow under alkaline pH or saline stress depends on the effective function of at least three regulatory pathways mediated by the zinc-finger transcription factor PacC, which mediates the ambient pH regulatory pathway, the calcineurin-dependent CrzA and the cation homeostasis responsive factor SltA. Using RNA sequencing, we determined the effect of external pH alkalinization or sodium stress on gene expression. The data show that each condition triggers transcriptional responses with a low degree of overlap. By sequencing the transcriptomes of the null mutant, the role of SltA in the above-mentioned homeostasis mechanisms was also studied. The results show that the transcriptional role of SltA is wider than initially expected and implies, for example, the positive control of the PacC-dependent ambient pH regulatory pathway. Overall, our data strongly suggest that the stress response pathways in fungi include some common but mostly exclusive constituents, and that there is a hierarchical relationship among the main regulators of stress response, with SltA controlling expression, at least in .

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): alkaline pH stress , Aspergillus nidulans , cation stress , fungi , PacC/Rim101 , signal transduction , SltA and transcriptional control
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (Award GIU19/635 014)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Oier Etxebeste
  • Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (Award PPGA19/08)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Oier Etxebeste
  • Eusko Jaurlaritza (Award Elkartek19/72)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Not Applicable
  • Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Award RTI2018-094263-B-100)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Eduardo Antonio Espeso
  • Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de España (Award BFU2015-66806-R)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Eduardo Antonio Espeso
© 2020 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2020-07-31
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Defining the transcriptional responses of Aspergillus nidulans to cation/alkaline pH stress and the role of the transcription factor SltA
M Gen 6, e000415 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000415
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000415
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000415
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