Transcriptional response to glucose starvation and functional analysis of a glucose transporter of Neurospora crassa

• Published in: Fungal genetics and biology 2004-12, Vol.41 (12), p.1104-1119
• Main Authors: Xie, Xin, Wilkinson, Heather H., Correa, Alejandro, Lewis, Zachary A., Bell-Pedersen, Deborah, Ebbole, Daniel J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological - genetics; Amino Acid Sequence; Citric Acid Cycle - genetics; Conserved Sequence; DNA, Complementary; DNA, Fungal - genetics; Energy Metabolism - genetics; Ethanol; Fungal Proteins - physiology; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; Gluconeogenesis; Glucose - metabolism; Glycolysis; Microarray; Molecular Sequence Data; Monosaccharide Transport Proteins - genetics; Monosaccharide Transport Proteins - physiology; Neurospora crassa; Neurospora crassa - genetics; Neurospora crassa - metabolism; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; RNA, Fungal - analysis; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - genetics; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Sugar transport; TCA cycle; Transcription, Genetic
• ISSN: 1087-1845; 1096-0937
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2004.08.009

The response to glucose availability in Neurospora crassa was characterized by measuring transcript levels of 1335 genes represented on a cDNA microarray. We found that 19% of the 1335 genes were regulated at least twofold in response to glucose deprivation. Several sugar transporter homologs were found to be regulated by glucose. Functional analysis of one of these, hgt-1, indicates that it encodes a high-affinity glucose transporter. Comparing N. crassa profiling data with the published diauxic shift data from Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed that the two fungi share similar, but not identical, transcriptional response patterns. Regulation of transcript levels measured by microarray analysis is consistent with previous measurements of central metabolism enzyme activities for N. crassa. Transcripts of genes for ethanol fermentation and the tricarboxylic acid cycle are abundant in glucose-rich medium, consistent with N. crassa carrying out a high rate of both fermentation and respiration simultaneously.