title: The APSES family proteins in fungi: Characterizations, evolution and functions.
abstract: The APSES protein family belongs to transcriptional factors of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) class, the originally described members (APSES: Asm1p, Phd1p, Sok2p, Efg1p and StuAp) are used to designate this group of proteins, and they have been identified as key regulators of fungal development and other biological processes. APSES proteins share a highly conserved DNA-binding domain (APSES domain) of about 100 amino acids, whose central domain is predicted to form a typical bHLH structure. Besides APSES domain, several APSES proteins also contain additional domains, such as KilA-N and ankyrin repeats. In recent years, an increasing number of APSES proteins have been identified from diverse fungi, and they involve in numerous biological processes, such as sporulation, cellular differentiation, mycelial growth, secondary metabolism and virulence. Most fungi, including Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus nidulans, Candida albicans, Fusarium graminearum, and Neurospora crassa, contain five APSES proteins. However, Cryptococcus neoformans only contains two APSES proteins, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains six APSES proteins. The phylogenetic analysis showed the APSES domains from different fungi were grouped into four clades (A, B, C and D), which is consistent with the result of homologous alignment of APSES domains using DNAman. The roles of APSES proteins in clade C have been studied in detail, while little is known about the roles of other APSES proteins in clades A, B and D. In this review, the biochemical properties and functional domains of APSES proteins are predicted and compared, and the phylogenetic relationship among APSES proteins from various fungi are analyzed based on the APSES domains. Moreover, the functions of APSES proteins in different fungi are summarized and discussed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources, Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources, Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources, Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources, Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Huihua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources, Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Ke-Qin
authors.initials: KQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources, Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China. Electronic address: jinkui960@ynu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jinkui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics*; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: APSES proteins; Functions; Fungi; Phylogenetic analysis; Structural domains