Abstract
Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases (CaMKs) are unique second-messenger molecules that impact almost all cellular processes in eukaryotes. In this study, five genes encoding different CaMKs were characterized in the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora. These CaMKs, which were retrieved from the A. oligospora genome according to their orthologs in fungi such as Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa, were expressed at a low level in vitro during mycelial growth stages. Five deletion mutants corresponding to these CaMKs led to growth defects in different media and increased sensitivity to several environmental stresses, including H2O2, menadione, SDS, and Congo red; they also reduced the ability to produce conidia and traps, thus causing a deficiency in nematicidal ability as well. In addition, the transcriptional levels of several typical sporulation-related genes, such as MedA, VelB, and VeA, were down-regulated in all ΔCaMK mutants compared with the wild-type (WT) strain. Moreover, these mutants exhibited hypersensitivity to heat shock and ultraviolet-radiation stresses compared with the WT strain. These results suggest that the five CaMKs in A. oligospora are involved in regulating multiple cellular processes, such as growth, environmental stress tolerance, conidiation, trap formation, and virulence.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.
Funding
The research described here is jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1402265, U1502262, and 31272093) and co-supported by Yunnan University’s Research Innovation Fund for Graduate Students (YDY17016).
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Zhen, Z., Zhang, G., Yang, L. et al. Characterization and functional analysis of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases (CaMKs) in the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 103, 819–832 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-9504-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-9504-5