Developmental regulation of NAD+ kinase in Neurospora crassa

The specific activity of NAD+ kinase (ATP:NAD+ 2'-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.23) from Neurospora crassa shows sharp peaks when the organism enters a new developmental stage of the asexual life cycle: the peaks are observed during hydration and germination of conidia, at the transition from exponential to stationary growth and at the photostimulated conidiation. As stimulation of NAD+ kinase activity by light in conidiating mycelium is not sensitive to translation inhibitors, the activation of pre-existing molecules, rather than induction of protein synthesis de novo may be supposed. Enzyme electrophoresis revealed the presence of four forms of NAD+ kinase having different apparent molecular weights (I = 333,000; II = 306,000; III = 229,000 and IV = 203,000). Manifestation of the activity of individual forms of NAD+ kinase is developmentally controlled: form III is most abundant during vegetative growth, forms I and II prevail in conidia. At the conidial germination the increase of NAD+ kinase activity is associated with the activation of form III, whereas during photostimulation of conidiation form II is the most activated one. Therefore, certain molecular forms of the enzyme may be regarded as biochemical markers for different developmental stages of N. crassa.