title: The Aspergillus nidulans genes chsA and chsD encode chitin synthases which have redundant functions in conidia formation.
abstract: We previously isolated three chitin synthase genes (chsA, chsB, and chsC) from Aspergillus nidulans. In the present work, we describe the isolation and characterization of another chitin synthase gene, named chsD, from A. nidulans. Its deduced amino acid sequence shows 56.7% and 55.9% amino acid identity, respectively, with Cal1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Chs3 of Candida albicans. Disruption of chsD caused no defect in cell growth or morphology during the asexual cycle and caused no decrease in chitin content in hyphae. However, double disruption of chsA and chsD caused a remarkable decrease in the efficiency of conidia formation, while double disruption of chsC and chsD caused no defect. Thus it appears that chsA and chsD serve redundant functions in conidia formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Motoyama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takagi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001233:Aspergillus nidulans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002687:Chitin Synthase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C100786:ChsD protein, Aspergillus; C069390:CHS3 protein, S cerevisiae; D002687:Chitin Synthase