title: A RING-finger photocarotenogenic repressor involved in asexual sporulation in Mucor circinelloides.
abstract: Mucor circinelloides responds to blue light by activating the biosynthesis of carotenoids and bending its sporangiophores towards the light source. The CrgA protein product acts as a repressor of carotene biosynthesis, as its inactivation leads to the overaccumulation of carotenoids in both the dark and the light. We show here that asexual sporulation in Mucor is also stimulated by light and that the crgA gene is involved in sporulation, given that lack of crgA function affects both carotenogenesis and the normal production of spores. A small interference RNA (siRNA) gene silencing approach was used to block the biosynthesis of carotenoids and to demonstrate that abnormal sporulation in crgA mutants is not a consequence of a defective production of carotenes. These results reveal an active role for the predicted CrgA product, a RING-finger protein, in the control of cellular light-regulated processes in Mucor.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Nicolás
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calo
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Murcia-Flores
authors.forename: Victoriano
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Garre
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Vázquez
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torres-Martínez
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D008027:Light; D009089:Mucor / Q000502:physiology*; D018524:Phototropism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development*; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: C404790:CRGA protein, Mucor circinelloides; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D019207:beta Carotene