title: Linkage of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunctions to spontaneous culture degeneration in Aspergillus nidulans.
abstract: Filamentous fungi including mushrooms frequently and spontaneously degenerate during subsequent culture maintenance on artificial media, which shows the loss or reduction abilities of asexual sporulation, sexuality, fruiting, and production of secondary metabolites, thus leading to economic losses during mass production. To better understand the underlying mechanisms of fungal degeneration, the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans was employed in this study for comprehensive analyses. First, linkage of oxidative stress to culture degeneration was evident in A. nidulans. Taken together with the verifications of cell biology and biochemical data, a comparative mitochondrial proteome analysis revealed that, unlike the healthy wild type, a spontaneous fluffy sector culture of A. nidulans demonstrated the characteristics of mitochondrial dysfunctions. Relative to the wild type, the features of cytochrome c release, calcium overload and up-regulation of apoptosis inducing factors evident in sector mitochondria suggested a linkage of fungal degeneration to cell apoptosis. However, the sector culture could still be maintained for generations without the signs of growth arrest. Up-regulation of the heat shock protein chaperones, anti-apoptotic factors and DNA repair proteins in the sector could account for the compromise in cell death. The results of this study not only shed new lights on the mechanisms of spontaneous degeneration of fungal cultures but will also provide alternative biomarkers to monitor fungal culture degeneration.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yongliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Chengshu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D001233:Aspergillus nidulans / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001343:Autophagy / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000502:physiology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D020543:Proteome