Gap closed in the genetic map of kingdom fungi

Research team sequences genome of Pyronema confluens

2013-09-20

(Press-News.org) Today, the genomes of more than 250 fungi have been sequenced. Among the basal filamentous ascomycetes – a group of ascomycetes that includes e.g. truffles and morels – only one representative has been analysed so far: the truffle Tuber melanosporum. "With 125 million base pairs, the truffle genome is unusually big, yet it is coding for relatively few genes, namely some 7,500," says Minou Nowrousian from the Department of General and Molecular Botany. "Until now, it was not clear whether this is typical of basal filamentous ascomycetes or whether it is caused by the truffle's 'atypical' lifestyle." Unlike other filamentous ascomycetes, the truffle does not develop reproductive organs – so-called fruiting bodies – above ground but rather below ground. Moreover, it only grows in symbiosis with plant roots (mycorrhiza). Pyronema, on the other hand, is a typical representative of its group.

Intermediary evolutionary stage

The genome of Pyronema confluens contains 50 million base pairs and some 13,000 genes; it is thus smaller than that of the truffle, and yet it contains more genes. These findings confirm the truffle's special position and provide new insights into the evolution of ascomycetes. "Pyronema confluens bears a stronger resemblance to higher ascomycetes than to the truffle," concludes Minou Nowrousian. However, the scientists have also discovered differences to higher ascomycetes, for example in the DNA sequence containing the genetic blueprint for mating type genes. Mating type genes are the main regulators of sexual development and, in Pyronema confluens, they do not show the standardised structure that is typical for higher ascomycetes. "Pyronema confluens may represent an intermediary evolutionary stage in the evolution of mating type genes," says the Bochum biologist.

Light-activated genes

One characteristic feature of the fungus under investigation is the fact that it produces fruiting bodies only in light. Fittingly, the researchers discovered genes in the Pyronema genome containing blueprints for photoreceptors for different wavelengths of visible light. The activity of some of those genes increased in light.

INFORMATION:

Pyronema – a typical representative of its systematic group

Project funding

The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) funded the project headed by PD Dr Minou Nowrousian (NO 407/4-1).

Bibliographic record

Traeger S, Altegoer F, Freitag M, Gabaldon T, Kempken F, Kumar F, Marcet-Houben M, Pöggeler S, Stajich JE, Nowrousian M (2013) The genome and development-dependent transcriptomes of Pyronema confluens: a window into fungal evolution. PLoS Genet 9(9): e1003820. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1003820

Further information

PD Dr Minou Nowrousian
Department of General and Molecular Botany
Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at the Ruhr-Universität
44780 Bochum, Germany
phone: +49/234/32-24588
e-mail: minou.nowrousian@rub.de

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Lifestyle influences metabolism via DNA methylation

2013-09-20

In the course of life, aging processes, environmental influences and lifestyle factors such as smoking or diet induce biochemical alterations to the DNA. Frequently, these lead to DNA methylation, a process in which methyl groups are added to particular DNA segments, without changing the DNA sequence. Such processes can influence gene function and are known as epigenetics. Scientists of the Institute of Genetic Epidemiology (IGE) and the Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology (AME) at Helmholtz Zentrum München are seeking to determine what association exists between these ...

New rat genus discovered in the birthplace of the theory of evolution

2013-09-20

A prominent tuft of spiny hair on the back, a white tail tip and three pairs of teats represent the unique set of characteristics describing a new genus of rat which has been discovered in the Moluccan province of Indonesia. This region had a profound influence on the British Naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace who independently developed the theory of evolution alongside Charles Darwin. The international team of zoologists was led by the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense in Indonesia and the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen. One ...

Getting rid of unwanted visitors

2013-09-20

The digestive systems of all animals contain a large number of different bacteria. Humans are no exception and our intestines provide warmth, shelter and food to a vast range of unicellular organisms, many of which are either beneficial to their hosts or at least cause no ill effects other than consuming some of the food we ingest. However, several species have been associated with disease. Among them is Helicobacter pylori, which may play a part in causing chronic gastritis and gastric ulcers. An ancient colonizer recently discovered Helicobacter pylori was only discovered ...

Crucial new insight into the secrets of Nobel Prize-winning pump

2013-09-20

The story of the sodium-potassium pump has strong ties to Denmark. In 1997, the Danish scientist Jens Chr. Skou received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery, and over the years, research on the pump has remained a strong focus area at Aarhus University. In 2007, the joint efforts of various research teams at Aarhus University led to the description of the structure of the potassium-bound state of the pump - now, Danish researchers have also described the other state of the pump; the sodium-bound state. The results were recently published in the journal Science. The ...

New research on inherited herpesvirus may have implications for transplantation

2013-09-20

Up to half a million people in Britain today may not know it, but in their genetic material they carry a particular form of herpesvirus 6 inherited from a parent. The study from the world-renowned Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester, is funded principally by the Medical Research Council (MRC), and published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. The research led by Dr Nicola Royle, Senior Lecturer in Genetics, has identified a mechanism by which the inherited herpesvirus 6 can escape from the chromosome and may be able to reactivate under certain ...

Elvitegravir fixed combination in HIV: Lesser benefit for treatment-naive patients

2013-09-20

The drug combination of elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil (elvitegravir fixed combination, trade name: Stribild) has been approved in Germany since May 2013 for the treatment of adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether an added benefit is proven for this combination over the current standard therapy. This is not the case: ...

Blood pressure cuff may save lives in patients with acute heart attack

2013-09-20

In patients with an acute heart attack, remote ischemic conditioning – intermittent inflation of a blood pressure cuff to cut off blood flow to the arm during transportation to hospital for acute balloon dilatation – reduces subsequent cardiac symptoms and mortality after acute heart attack. The results are presented by researchers from Aarhus University Hospital and Aarhus University in European Heart Journal on-line 12 September 2013. Activating the body's defense mechanism Lack of oxygen for short periods of time in a distant organ by intermittently stopping blood ...

Promising new alloy for resistive switching memory

2013-09-20

WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 20, 2013 -- Memory based on electrically-induced "resistive switching" effects have generated a great deal of interest among engineers searching for faster and smaller devices because resistive switching would allow for a higher memory density. Researchers have tested a number of oxide materials for their promise in resistive switching memories, and now a team of researchers in Singapore have demonstrated how conductive nano-filaments in amorphous titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films could be utilized for resistive switching device applications. Yuanmin ...

Densest array of carbon nanotubes grown to date

2013-09-20

WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 20, 2013 -- Carbon nanotubes' outstanding mechanical, electrical and thermal properties make them an alluring material to electronics manufacturers. However, until recently scientists believed that growing the high density of tiny graphene cylinders needed for many microelectronics applications would be difficult. Now a team from Cambridge University in England has devised a simple technique to increase the density of nanotube forests grown on conductive supports about five times over previous methods. The high density nanotubes might one day replace ...

Microfluidic platform gives a clear look at a crucial step in cancer metastasis

2013-09-20

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Cancer cells metastasize in several stages -- first by invading surrounding tissue, then by infiltrating and spreading via the circulatory system. Some circulating cells work their way out of the vascular network, eventually forming a secondary tumor. While the initial process by which cancer cells enter the bloodstream -- called intravasation -- is well characterized, how cells escape blood vessels to permeate other tissues and organs is less clear. This process, called extravasation, is a crucial step in cancer metastasis. Now researchers at MIT ...

Modular assembly of chiral nitrogen-bridged rings achieved by palladium-catalyzed diastereoselective and enantioselective cascade cyclization reactions

Gap closed in the genetic map of kingdom fungi

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: