title: RNAseq Analysis Highlights Specific Transcriptome Signatures of Yeast and Mycelial Growth Phases in the Dutch Elm Disease Fungus Ophiostoma novo-ulmi.
abstract: Fungal dimorphism is a complex trait and our understanding of the ability of fungi to display different growth morphologies is limited to a small number of model species. Here we study a highly aggressive dimorphic fungus, the ascomycete Ophiostoma novo-ulmi, which is a model in plant pathology and the causal agent of Dutch elm disease. The two growth phases that this fungus displays, i.e., a yeast phase and mycelial phase, are thought to be involved in key steps of disease development. We used RNAseq to investigate the genome-wide gene expression profiles that are associated with yeast and mycelial growth phases in vitro. Our results show a clear molecular distinction between yeast and mycelial phase gene expression profiles. Almost 12% of the gene content is differentially expressed between the two phases, which reveals specific functions related to each growth phase. We compared O. novo-ulmi transcriptome profiles with those of two model dimorphic fungi, Candida albicans and Histoplasma capsulatum. Few orthologs showed similar expression regulation between the two growth phases, which suggests that, globally, the genes associated with these two life forms are poorly conserved. This poor conservation underscores the importance of developing specific tools for emerging model species that are distantly related to the classical ones. Taken together, our results provide insights into transcriptome regulation and molecular specificity in O. novo-ulmi and offer a new perspective for understanding fungal dimorphism.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada Centre d'Étude de la Forêt (CEF) and Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada martha.nigg.1@ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nigg
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada Plate-forme de bio-informatique, Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laroche
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada Département de biologie, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Christian R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada Centre d'Étude de la Forêt (CEF) and Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1789-8190
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bernier
mesh_terms: D002176:Candida albicans / Q000235:genetics; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D006658:Histoplasma / Q000235:genetics; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000235:genetics; D025282:Mycelium / Q000378:metabolism; D055156:Ophiostoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity; D059467:Transcriptome; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
keywords: Candida albicans; Histoplasma capsulatum; Ophiostoma novo-ulmi; fungal dimorphism; transcription profiling