Glucose uptake in Trichoderma harzianum: role of gtt1

Using a differential display technique, the gene gtt1, which codes for a high-affinity glucose transporter, has been cloned from the mycoparasite fungus Trichoderma harzianum CECT 2413. The deduced protein sequence of the gtt1 gene shows the 12 transmembrane domains typical of sugar transporters, together with certain residues involved in glucose uptake, such as a conserved arginine between domains IV and V and an aromatic residue (Phe) in the sequence of domain X. The gtt1 gene is transcriptionally regulated, being repressed at high levels of glucose. When carbon sources other than glucose are utilized, gtt1 repression is partially alleviated. Full derepression of gtt1 is obtained when the fungus is grown in the presence of low carbon source concentrations. This regulation pattern correlates with the role of this gene in glucose uptake during carbon starvation. Gene expression is also controlled by pH, so that the gtt1 gene is repressed at pH 6 but not at pH 3, a fact which represents a novel aspect of the influence of pH on the gene expression of transporters. pH also affects glucose transport, since a strongly acidic pH provokes a 40% decrease in glucose transport velocity. Biochemical characterization of the transport shows a very low K(m) value for glucose (12 micro M). A transformant strain that overexpresses the gtt1 gene shows a threefold increase in glucose but not galactose or xylose uptake, a finding which confirms the role of the gtt1 gene in glucose transport. The cloning of the first filamentous ascomycete glucose transporter is the first step in elucidating the mechanisms of glucose uptake and carbon repression in aerobic fungi.