Multiple Roles of the Low-Affinity Calcium Uptake System in , a Nematode-Trapping Fungus That Forms Constricting Rings.

(1) Background: the low-affinity calcium uptake system (LACS) has been shown to play a crucial role in the conidiation and formation of adhesive nets and knobs by nematode-trapping fungi (NTF), but its involvement in the formation of constricting rings (CRs), mechanical traps to capture free-living nematodes, remains unexplored. (2) Methods: we investigated the function of two LACS genes ( and ) in , an NTF that forms CRs. We generated single ( and ) and double () knockdown mutants via the use of RNA interference (RNAi).

DhFIG_2, a gene of nematode-trapping fungus Dactylellina haptotyla that encodes a component of the low-affinity calcium uptake system, is required for conidiation and knob-trap formation.

Calcium ion (Ca) is a universal second messenger involved in regulating diverse processes in animals, plants, and fungi. The low-affinity calcium uptake system (LACS) participates in acquiring Ca from extracellular environments under high extracellular Ca concentration. Unlike most fungi, which encode only one protein (FIG1) for LACS, nematode-trapping fungi (NTF) encode two related proteins.

DdaCrz1, a CH-Type Transcription Factor, Regulates Growth, Conidiation, and Stress Resistance in the Nematode-Trapping Fungus .

The Ca/calmodulin-dependent signaling pathway regulates diverse cellular processes. Calcineurin is a calcium-dependent phosphatase acting in fungi mainly through Crz1, a zinc finger transcription factor. Although the likely involvement of Ca in fungal carnivorism has been documented, how functions in nematode-trapping fungi remains unknown.

Snf5 and Swi3 subcomplex formation is required for SWI/SNF complex function in yeast.

The SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, which alters nucleosome positions by either evicting histones or sliding nucleosomes on DNA, is highly conserved from yeast to humans, and 20% of all human cancers have mutations in various subunits of the SWI/SNF complex. Here, we reported the crystal structure of the yeast Snf5-Swi3 subcomplex at a resolution of 2.65 Å.