GPCR-mediated glucose sensing system regulates light-dependent fungal development and mycotoxin production

PLoS Genet. 2019 Oct 14;15(10):e1008419. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008419. eCollection 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Microorganisms sense environmental fluctuations in nutrients and light, coordinating their growth and development accordingly. Despite their critical roles in fungi, only a few G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been characterized. The Aspergillus nidulans genome encodes 86 putative GPCRs. Here, we characterise a carbon starvation-induced GPCR-mediated glucose sensing mechanism in A. nidulans. This includes two class V (gprH and gprI) and one class VII (gprM) GPCRs, which in response to glucose promote cAMP signalling, germination and hyphal growth, while negatively regulating sexual development in a light-dependent manner. We demonstrate that GprH regulates sexual development via influencing VeA activity, a key light-dependent regulator of fungal morphogenesis and secondary metabolism. We show that GprH and GprM are light-independent negative regulators of sterigmatocystin biosynthesis. Additionally, we reveal the epistatic interactions between the three GPCRs in regulating sexual development and sterigmatocystin production. In conclusion, GprH, GprM and GprI constitute a novel carbon starvation-induced glucose sensing mechanism that functions upstream of cAMP-PKA signalling to regulate fungal development and mycotoxin production.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Physiological / radiation effects*
  • Aspergillus nidulans / physiology*
  • Carbon / metabolism
  • Fungal Proteins / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal / radiation effects
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Light*
  • Morphogenesis
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / metabolism*
  • Spores, Fungal / growth & development
  • Spores, Fungal / radiation effects
  • Sterigmatocystin / biosynthesis

Substances

  • Fungal Proteins
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • Sterigmatocystin
  • Carbon
  • Glucose