The Putative C2H2 Transcription Factor VadH Governs Development, Osmotic Stress Response, and Sterigmatocystin Production in Aspergillus nidulans

The VosA-VelB hetero-dimeric complex plays a pivotal role in regulating development and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans. In this work, we characterize a new VosA/VelB-activated gene called vadH, which is predicted to encode a 457-amino acid length protein containing four adjacent C2H2 z...

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Published in:Cells (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-12, Vol.11 (24), p.3998
Main Authors: Li, Xiaoyu, Zhao, Yanxia, Moon, Heungyun, Lim, Jieyin, Park, Hee-Soo, Liu, Zhiqiang, Yu, Jae-Hyuk
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aspergillus nidulans
Biosynthesis
C2H2 transcription factors
Cleistothecia
Deletion mutant
development
Developmental stages
Fruit bodies
Gene expression
Genetic engineering
Genomes
Glucose
Glycerol
Growth stage
Metabolism
Mutants
Osmotic stress
Pathogens
Proteins
Signal transduction
Sterigmatocystin
stress response
Transcription factors
velvet regulators
Zinc finger proteins
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Summary:The VosA-VelB hetero-dimeric complex plays a pivotal role in regulating development and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans. In this work, we characterize a new VosA/VelB-activated gene called vadH, which is predicted to encode a 457-amino acid length protein containing four adjacent C2H2 zinc-finger domains. Mutational inactivation of vosA or velB led to reduced mRNA levels of vadH throughout the lifecycle, suggesting that VosA and VelB have a positive regulatory effect on the expression of vadH. The deletion of vadH resulted in decreased asexual development (conidiation) but elevated production of sexual fruiting bodies (cleistothecia), indicating that VadH balances asexual and sexual development in A. nidulans. Moreover, the vadH deletion mutant exhibited elevated susceptibility to hyperosmotic stress compared to wild type and showed elevated production of the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin (ST). Genome-wide expression analyses employing RNA-Seq have revealed that VadH is likely involved in regulating more genes and biological pathways in the developmental stages than those in the vegetative growth stage. The brlA, abaA, and wetA genes of the central regulatory pathway for conidiation are downregulated significantly in the vadH null mutant during asexual development. VadH also participates in regulating the genes, mat2, ppgA and lsdA, etc., related to sexual development, and some of the genes in the ST biosynthetic gene cluster. In summary, VadH is a putative transcription factor with four C2H2 finger domains and is involved in regulating asexual/sexual development, osmotic stress response, and ST production in A. nidulans.
ISSN:2073-4409
2073-4409
DOI:10.3390/cells11243998