Mitochondrial inheritance in basidiomycete fungi
Publication date: Available online 5 March 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Jianping Xu , Pengfei Wang The mitochondrion is a vital organelle in eukaryotic cells. Unlike the inheritance of nuclear genes, that of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) does not follow Mendelian Laws. In the great majority of sexual plants and animals, mtDNA is uniparentally inherited from the maternal parent. However, there is a diversity of mtDNA inheritance patterns in basidiomycete fungi. In this commemorative review of mtDNA inheritance in basidiomycetes, we first summarize Dr. Lorna Casselton's pioneering contributions to the subj...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 3, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Branching out: Towards a trait-based understanding of fungal ecology
Publication date: May 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews, Volume 29, Issue 1 Author(s): Carlos A. Aguilar-Trigueros , Stefan Hempel , Jeff R. Powell , Ian C. Anderson , Janis Antonovics , Joana Bergmann , Timothy R. Cavagnaro , Baodong Chen , Miranda M. Hart , John Klironomos , Jana S. Petermann , Erik Verbruggen , Stavros D. Veresoglou , Matthias C. Rillig Fungal ecology lags behind in the use of traits (i.e. phenotypic characteristics) to understand ecological phenomena. We argue that this is a missed opportunity and that the selection and systematic collection of trait data throughout the fungal kingdo...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 3, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Potential roles for recently discovered chytrid parasites in the dynamics of harmful algal blooms
Publication date: May 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews, Volume 29, Issue 1 Author(s): Frank H. Gleason , Thomas G. Jephcott , Frithjof C. Küpper , Mélanie Gerphagnon , Télesphore Sime-Ngando , Sergey A. Karpov , Laure Guillou , Floris F. van Ogtrop Zoosporic true fungi belonging to the phylum Chytridiomycota, commonly referred to as chytrids, are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, however their role in phytoplankton population and eco-physiological dynamics is not fully understood. With the rising occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) of phytoplankton worldwide, there is a growing need to investigate ...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 3, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Regulation of hyphal morphogenesis by Ras and Rho small GTPases
Publication date: May 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews, Volume 29, Issue 1 Author(s): Robert A. Arkowitz , Martine Bassilana The fungal kingdom is extremely diverse – comprised of over 1.5 million species including yeasts, molds and mushrooms. Essentially, all fungi have cell walls that contain chitin and the cells of most fungi grow as tube-like filaments called hyphae. These filamentous fungi, such as the mold Neurospora crassa, develop branched radial networks of hyphae referred to as mycelium. In contrast, non-filamentous fungi do not form radial mycelia, but grow as single cells, which reproduce by either bu...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 3, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Early endosomes motility in filamentous fungi: How and why they move
Publication date: May 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews, Volume 29, Issue 1 Author(s): Yujiro Higuchi , Gero Steinberg Elongate hyphae of filamentous fungi grow predominantly at their tips, whereas organelles are positioned in the subapical parts of the cell. Organelle positioning and long-distance intracellular communication involves active, energy-dependent transport along microtubules (MTs). This is mediated by specialized molecular motors, named kinesins and dynein, which utilize ATP hydrolysis to “walk” along the tubulin polymers. Work in the basidiomycete Ustilago maydis and the ascomycete Aspergillus nidu...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 3, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Mating-type genes and hyphal fusions in filamentous basidiomycetes
Publication date: Available online 23 May 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Marjatta Raudaskoski In the filamentous basidiomycetes Coprinopsis cinerea and Schizophyllum commune, mating is regulated by the tetrapolar mating-type system consisting of two unlinked genetic complexes, named A and B. In the nineties, the molecular structure of A and B mating type loci and genes was revealed side by side in C. cinerea and S. commune, first the A complex and quite soon thereafter the B complex genes. The clear molecular structure of C. cinerea mating type genes has led to their use as models for genomic approaches...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 3, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Orchestration of morphogenesis in filamentous fungi: conserved roles for Ras signaling networks
Publication date: Available online 26 May 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Jarrod R. Fortwendel Filamentous fungi undergo complex developmental programs including conidial germination, polarized morphogenesis, and differentiation of sexual and asexual structures. For many fungi, the coordinated completion of development is required for pathogenicity, as specialized morphological structures must be produced by the invading fungus. Ras proteins are highly conserved GTPase signal transducers and function as major regulators of growth and development in eukaryotes. Filamentous fungi typically express two Ras ...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - June 3, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Oxidative stress response and adaptation to H2O2 in the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its human pathogenic relatives Candida albicans and Candida glabrata
Publication date: Available online 13 January 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Stephanie Diezmann Partial reduction of oxygen to water produces the reactive oxygen species hydrogen peroxide. This non-radical may leak from the respiratory chain in anaerobic cells or suddenly be generated during the ‘respiratory burst’ in phagocytic cells, which employ it as a first-line defense in response to microbial invaders. Excess hydrogen peroxide disturbs the cell's redox homeostasis and causes oxidative stress, thus demanding fine-tuned adaptive and protective mechanisms. The eukaryotic response to oxidative st...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - January 29, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Fungal proteins and genes associated with biocontrol mechanisms of soil-borne pathogens: a review
The objective of this article is to review the fungal proteins and corresponding genes directly or indirectly involved in antagonistic relationships between pathogens and non-pathogens and associated with biocontrol of soil-borne pathogens. The current hypothesis is that they contribute to soil suppressiveness. We assigned the proteins encoded by these genes to five function-based groups. The first group contains the proteins involved in host recognition and signaling pathways and the transcription factors involved in biocontrol activities. Proteins that protect antagonistic fungi against their own toxins and against other...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - January 29, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Candida albicans: Molecular interactions with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus
Publication date: Available online 17 January 2015 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): Allia K. Lindsay , Deborah A. Hogan The fields of mycology and bacteriology have traditionally functioned independently of each other despite the fundamental actuality that fungi and bacteria not only co-exist but also interact within several niches. In the clinical context, these interactions commonly occur within biofilms, which can be composed of single-species communities or mixed-species populations and recent studies have shown that the properties of mixed-species populations differ from those of their individual compone...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - January 29, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Will fungi be the new source of the blockbuster drug taxol?
Publication date: Available online 15 November 2014 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews Author(s): S.K. Gond , R.N. Kharwar , J.F. White Jr. Taxol (paclitaxel) is widely used for the treatment of various kinds of cancers. Originally, the major source of taxol was bark of the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia). However, this proved devastating to natural populations of the trees. To protect the Pacific yew, alternatives to the use of trees are sought. One solution is the use of taxol or its precursors derived from fungi. A large number of endophytic fungi that reside within healthy plants have been reported to be taxol pr...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - November 16, 2014 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Can plant defensins be used to engineer durable commercially useful fungal resistance in crop plants?
Publication date: October 2011 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews, Volume 25, Issue 3 Author(s): Jagdeep Kaur , Uma Shankar Sagaram , Dilip Shah Plant defensins are cysteine-rich proteins that play an important role in defense against fungal pathogens. Because of their potent antifungal activity, they have a strong potential to be used for engineering disease resistance in crops. Significant advances have been made in elucidating their structure–activity relationships and modes of antifungal action. Their expression in transgenic plants provides resistance to fungal pathogens in crop plants. In this article, we review ...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - October 13, 2014 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Sex and speciation: The paradox that non-recombining DNA promotes recombination
Publication date: October 2011 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews, Volume 25, Issue 3 Author(s): Alexander Idnurm The benefits of sexual reproduction that outweigh its costs have long puzzled biologists. Increased genetic diversity generated by new allelic combinations, as enhanced by recombination during meiosis, is considered a primary benefit of sex. Sex-determining systems have evolved independently on numerous occasions. One of the most familiar is the use of sex chromosomes in vertebrates. Other eukaryotic groups also use sex chromosomes or smaller sex-determining regions within their chromosomes, such as the mating ...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - October 13, 2014 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The rise and rise of emerging infectious fungi challenges food security and ecosystem health
This article highlights some of the more notable persistent fungal diseases of our times. It draws attention to the emergence of new fungal pathotypes infecting food staple crops, due largely to modern agricultural practices, and to nascent fungal diseases decimating frog populations worldwide and killing hibernating bats in Northern USA. We invoke use of the basic disease triangle concept to highlight the “missing” data, with regards to pathogen and host biology and to the various environmental parameters which may dictate disease spread. Given these data “voids” we comment on the implementation of policy. We conc...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - October 13, 2014 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Characterization and application of small RNAs and RNA silencing mechanisms in fungi
Publication date: December 2011 Source:Fungal Biology Reviews, Volume 25, Issue 4 Author(s): Cristiano C. Nunes , Joshua K. Sailsbery , Ralph A. Dean Although extensively cataloged and functionally diverse in plants and animals, the role and targets of small RNAs remain mostly uncharacterized in filamentous fungi. To date, much of the knowledge of small RNAs in filamentous fungi has been derived from studies of a limited group of fungi, most notably in Neurospora crassa. While most of the recently discovered classes of small RNAs appear to be unique to fungi some are commonly found in eukaryotes. It is noteworthy th...
Source: Fungal Biology Reviews - October 13, 2014 Category: Biology Source Type: research
