title: Calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinases are involved in growth, thermotolerance, oxidative stress survival, and fertility in Neurospora crassa.
abstract: Calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinases (Ca(2+)/CaMKs) are Ser/Thr protein kinases that respond to change in cytosolic free Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)]c) and play multiple cellular roles in organisms ranging from fungi to humans. In the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, four Ca(2+)/CaM-dependent kinases, Ca(2+)/CaMK-1 to 4, are encoded by the genes NCU09123, NCU02283, NCU06177, and NCU09212, respectively. We found that camk-1 and camk-2 are essential for full fertility in N. crassa. The survival of ∆camk-2 mutant was increased in induced thermotolerance and oxidative stress conditions. In addition, the ∆camk-1 ∆camk-2, ∆camk-4 ∆camk-2, and ∆camk-3 ∆camk-2 double mutants display slow growth phenotype, reduced aerial hyphae, decreased thermotolerance, and increased sensitivity to oxidative stress, revealing the genetic interactions among these kinases. Therefore, Ca(2+)/CaMKs are involved in growth, thermotolerance, oxidative stress tolerance, and fertility in N. crassa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781 039, India.
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Ranjan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tamuli
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D005298:Fertility; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D050296:Microbial Viability; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009492:Neurospora crassa / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D016877:Oxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D016877:Oxidants; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases