The influence of flocculation upon global gene transcription in a yeast mutant.

The transcriptome from a deletion mutant was one of the first comprehensive yeast transcriptomes published. Subsequent transcriptomes from and mutants firmly established the Tup1-Cyc8 complex as predominantly acting as a repressor of gene transcription. However, transcriptomes from gene deletion or conditional mutants would all have been influenced by the striking flocculation phenotypes that these mutants display.

The KdmB-EcoA-RpdA-SntB chromatin complex binds regulatory genes and coordinates fungal development with mycotoxin synthesis.

Chromatin complexes control a vast number of epigenetic developmental processes. Filamentous fungi present an important clade of microbes with poor understanding of underlying epigenetic mechanisms. Here, we describe a chromatin binding complex in the fungus Aspergillus nidulans composing of a H3K4 histone demethylase KdmB, a cohesin acetyltransferase (EcoA), a histone deacetylase (RpdA) and a histone reader/E3 ligase protein (SntB).

The tetrameric pheromone module SteC-MkkB-MpkB-SteD regulates asexual sporulation, sclerotia formation and aflatoxin production in Aspergillus flavus.

For eukaryotes like fungi to regulate biological responses to environmental stimuli, various signalling cascades are utilized, like the highly conserved mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. In the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans, a MAPK pathway known as the pheromone module regulates development and the production of secondary metabolites (SMs). This pathway consists five proteins, the three kinases SteC, MkkB and MpkB, the adaptor SteD and the scaffold HamE.

Sas3 and Ada2(Gcn5)-dependent histone H3 acetylation is required for transcription elongation at the de-repressed FLO1 gene.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae FLO1 gene encodes a cell wall protein that imparts cell-cell adhesion. FLO1 transcription is regulated via the antagonistic activities of the Tup1-Cyc8 co-repressor and Swi-Snf co-activator complexes. Tup1-Cyc8 represses transcription through the organization of strongly positioned, hypoacetylated nucleosomes across gene promoters.