title: Transcriptome changes initiated by carbon starvation in Aspergillus nidulans.
abstract: Carbon starvation is a common stress for micro-organisms both in nature and in industry. The carbon starvation stress response (CSSR) involves the regulation of several important processes including programmed cell death and reproduction of fungi, secondary metabolite production and extracellular hydrolase formation. To gain insight into the physiological events of CSSR, DNA microarray analyses supplemented with real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) experiments on 99 selected genes were performed. These data demonstrated that carbon starvation induced very complex changes in the transcriptome. Several genes contributing to protein synthesis were upregulated together with genes involved in the unfolded protein stress response. The balance between biosynthesis and degradation moved towards degradation in the case of cell wall, carbohydrate, lipid and nitrogen metabolism, which was accompanied by the production of several hydrolytic enzymes and the induction of macroautophagy. These processes provide the cultures with long-term survival by liberating nutrients through degradation of the cell constituents. The induced synthesis of secondary metabolites, antifungal enzymes and proteins as well as bacterial cell wall-degrading enzymes demonstrated that carbon-starving fungi should have marked effects on the micro-organisms in their surroundings. Due to the increased production of extracellular and vacuolar enzymes during carbon starvation, the importance of the endoplasmic reticulum increased considerably.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szilágyi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Márton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miskei
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei Körút 98, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Karányi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Béla
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lenkey
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pócsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Emri
mesh_terms: D001233:Aspergillus nidulans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D050296:Microbial Viability; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon