title: Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) regulatory subunits ParA and PabA orchestrate septation and conidiation and are essential for PP2A activity in Aspergillus nidulans.
abstract: Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a major intracellular protein phosphatase that regulates multiple aspects of cell growth and metabolism. Different activities of PP2A and subcellular localization are determined by its regulatory subunits. Here we identified and characterized the functions of two protein phosphatase regulatory subunit homologs, ParA and PabA, in Aspergillus nidulans. Our results demonstrate that ParA localizes to the septum site and that deletion of parA causes hyperseptation, while overexpression of parA abolishes septum formation; this suggests that ParA may function as a negative regulator of septation. In comparison, PabA displays a clear colocalization pattern with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)-stained nuclei, and deletion of pabA induces a remarkable delayed-septation phenotype. Both parA and pabA are required for hyphal growth, conidiation, and self-fertilization, likely to maintain normal levels of PP2A activity. Most interestingly, parA deletion is capable of suppressing septation defects in pabA mutants, suggesting that ParA counteracts PabA during the septation process. In contrast, double mutants of parA and pabA led to synthetic defects in colony growth, indicating that ParA functions synthetically with PabA during hyphal growth. Moreover, unlike the case for PP2A-Par1 and PP2A-Pab1 in yeast (which are negative regulators that inactivate the septation initiation network [SIN]), loss of ParA or PabA fails to suppress defects of temperature-sensitive mutants of the SEPH kinase of the SIN. Thus, our findings support the previously unrealized evidence that the B-family subunits of PP2A have comprehensive functions as partners of heterotrimeric enzyme complexes of PP2A, both spatially and temporally, in A. nidulans.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China Department of Hygiene Analysis and Detection, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Guo-wei
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Wei-ran
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yuan-wei
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Wen-fan
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China linglu@njnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D001233:Aspergillus nidulans / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D054648:Protein Phosphatase 2 / Q000502:physiology*; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000502:physiology; D021381:Protein Transport; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D054648:Protein Phosphatase 2