title: The pH-responsive transcription factor PacC regulates mycelial growth, fruiting body development, and ganoderic acid biosynthesis in Ganoderma lucidum.
abstract: Ganoderma lucidum is a medicinal macrofungus that is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Nonetheless, the scarcity of basic biological studies of this organism has hindered the further development of its commercial value. The pH-responsive transcription factor PacC/Rim101 governs the adaptation to environmental pH, the development and the secondary metabolism of many fungi. In this study, a homologue of PacC/Rim101 that encodes GlPacC was identified in the higher basidiomycete G. lucidum. GlPacC is composed of 807 amino acids and contains three typical C2H2 zinc-finger domains, two potential PEST domains, a putative PKA phosphorylation site, and a putative nuclear localization signal (NLS). GlPacC was transcribed at a high level when the fungus was under neutral and alkaline conditions, and silencing of GlPacC impaired the fungal response to ambient pH. The distance between the hyphal branches (of vegetative hyphae and aerial hyphae) was significantly increased in the GlPacC-silenced strains. The GlPacC-silenced strains grew abnormally or became sickly on solid culture medium and were unable to form primordia and fruiting bodies. The ganoderic acid content, levels of the sqs and ls transcripts, and contents of the metabolic intermediates squalene and lanosterol were all up-regulated in the GlPacC-silenced strains. Our results indicate that GlPacC is functional and plays complex roles in mycelial growth, fruiting body development and ganoderic acid biosynthesis in G. lucidum.
authors.affiliation: a Microbiology Department, College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Microbiological Engineering of Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Feng-Li
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: a Microbiology Department, College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Microbiological Engineering of Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a Microbiology Department, College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Microbiological Engineering of Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: a Microbiology Department, College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Microbiological Engineering of Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Hao
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: a Microbiology Department, College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Microbiological Engineering of Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: a Microbiology Department, College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Microbiological Engineering of Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ai-Liang
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: a Microbiology Department, College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Microbiological Engineering of Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ming-Wen
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D048690:Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D025301:Hyphae / Q000254:growth & development*; D000072417:Protein Domains; D020940:Reishi / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors; D014315:Triterpenes; C556862:ganoderic acid
keywords: RNA interference; hyphal branching; macrofungi; secondary metabolism; sexual development; triterpenes