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Differential gene expression and evidence of selective translation during anaerobic germination of Mucor racemosus sporangiospores
Abstract
Summary: Anaerobically-germinated sporangiospores of Mucor racemosus develop into yeasts, whereas aerobicallygerminated sporangiospores become hyphae. Anaerobic germination was found to have the following traits in common with the previously characterized aerobic system of development: (i) immediate and vigorous protein synthesis upon exposure of the spores to liquid medium; (ii) a complete absence of RNA synthesis for the first 20 min of germination; and (iii) a mobilization of ribosomal subunits into active polyribosomes. The proteins synthesized in both systems during this 20 min interval must be specified by the pre-formed stable mRNA known to be stored in the dormant spore. The population of proteins manufactured early in anaerobic germination differed considerably from the set of proteins synthesized during the equivalent interval in air, suggesting that some unknown mechanism of selective translation must operate. A few dozen of the more prominent proteins could be categorized according to their patterns of synthesis during germination. This should allow future work to focus upon those genes and their products most closely linked to development. The most promising candidates include several proteins that are most conspicuous in the mature yeast and are among those proteins selectively translated in large amounts from stored mRNA templates during anaerobic germination.
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© Society for General Microbiology 1991