title: A new class of tetraspanins in fungi.
abstract: Tetraspanins are animal proteins involved in membrane complexes that are involved in cell adhesion, differentiation, and motility. The PLS1 gene from rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea encodes a protein (Pls1p) structurally related to tetraspanins that is required for pathogenicity. In Botrytis cinerea public sequences, we identified an EST homologous to PLS1. Using degenerated oligonucleotides, we amplified sequences homologous to PLS1 in fungi Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and Neurospora crassa. Analysis of N. crassa and M. grisea genome sequences revealed the presence of a single tetraspanin gene. Thus, fungi differ from animals, which contain between 20 and 37 paralogous tetraspanin genes. Fungal proteins encoded by BcPLS1, ClPLS1, and NcPLS1 display all the structural hallmarks of tetraspanins (predicted topology with four transmembrane domains, extra- and intracellular loops; conserved cysteine-based patterns in second extracellular loop). Phylogenetic analysis suggests that these genes define a new family of orthologous genes encoding fungal-specific tetraspanins.
authors.affiliation: UMR1932 CNRS/Bayer Cropscience, 14-20 Rue Pierre Baizet, 69009, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gourgues
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Clergeot
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Veneault
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cots
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sibuet
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brunet-Simon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Levis
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Langin
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lebrun
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D020171:Botrytis / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D005091:Exons; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D005658:Fungi / Q000378:metabolism*; D007438:Introns; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009492:Neurospora crassa / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins