Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025
07:47
Microscopy of Fission Yeast Sexual Lifecycle
Published on: March 9, 2016
15.1K
Crosstalk Between Pheromone Signaling and NADPH Oxidase Complexes Coordinates Fungal Developmental Processes
Sarah Schmidt1, Ramona Märker1, Barbara Ramšak1
1Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|August 28, 2020
Summary
Filamentous ascomycete development involves conserved signaling pathways. This study reveals a direct link between the pheromone response pathway and NADPH oxidase complexes via HAM5 and NOR1 interactions, impacting development and germination.
Area of Science:
- Mycology
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Signaling
Background:
- Sexual and asexual development in filamentous fungi rely on conserved signaling pathways.
- The pheromone response (PR) pathway and NADPH oxidase (NOX) complexes are crucial for fungal development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the roles of PR pathway kinases (MAK2, MEK2, MIK2) and scaffold protein HAM5 in fungal development.
- To elucidate the molecular connections between the PR pathway and NOX complexes (NOX1 and NOX2).
Main Methods:
- Genetic analysis of mutant strains lacking PR pathway components.
- Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays to identify protein interactions.
- Fluorescence microscopy to confirm protein co-localization.
- Phenotypic characterization of single and double mutants.
Main Results:
- Mutants lacking PR pathway kinases or HAM5 exhibited defects in fruiting body development, hyphal fusion, and ascospore germination.
- HAM5 directly interacts with NOR1, a regulator of NOX1 and NOX2 complexes.
- HAM5 and NOR1 co-localize, and their interaction partially suppresses the Δnor1 phenotype, suggesting a link to NOX1.
- PR kinases connect to NOX2 independently of HAM5.
Conclusions:
- The PR pathway and NOX1 complex are directly connected through the interaction of HAM5 and NOR1.
- PR kinases are linked to the NOX2 complex without HAM5 involvement.
- These findings reveal novel regulatory mechanisms in fungal development and stress response.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Yeast Signaling
16.8K
Yeasts are single-celled organisms, but unlike bacteria, they are eukaryotes (cells with a nucleus). Cell signaling in yeast is similar to signaling in other eukaryotic cells. A ligand, such as a protein or a small molecule released from a yeast cell, attaches to a receptor on the cell surface. The binding stimulates second-messenger kinases to activate or inactivate transcription factors that further regulate gene expression. Many of the yeast intracellular signaling cascades have similar...
16.8K
01:17Gene Regulation During Sporulation
321
Sporulation is a complex developmental process that allows certain Gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium species, to survive extreme environmental conditions. This process is tightly regulated by a series of signaling cascades and transcriptional controls, ensuring the formation of a highly resistant endospore.Sporulation is triggered by unfavorable conditions, such as nutrient depletion, and is governed by a phosphorelay system. One of the sensor kinases, such as...
321
02:45Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses
41.2K
The circadian—or biological—clock is an intrinsic, timekeeping, molecular mechanism that allows plants to coordinate physiological activities over 24-hour cycles called circadian rhythms. Photoperiodism is a collective term for the biological responses of plants to variations in the relative lengths of dark and light periods. The period of light-exposure is called the photoperiod.
41.2K
01:19Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
7.0K
Signaling cascades usually lack linearity. Multiple pathways interact and regulate one another, allowing cells to integrate and respond to diverse environmental stimuli.
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
7.0K
02:19Morphogenesis
29.8K
Plant morphogenesis—the development of a plant’s form and structure—involves several overlapping developmental processes, including growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types, which are organized into the tissues and organ systems that make up the functional plant.
29.8K
03:14Notch Signaling Pathway
6.0K
The Notch signaling pathway is a major intracellular signaling pathway that is highly conserved over a broad spectrum of metazoan species. It stands unique from other intracellular signaling mechanisms in animals because notch protein itself acts as the receptor as well as the primary signaling molecule.
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not...
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not...
6.0K