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Sample records for blastocladiella

  1. Phosphate limitation induces sporulation in the chytridiomycete Blastocladiella emersonii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bongiorno, Vagner Alexandre; Ferreira da Cruz, Angela; Nunis da Silva, Antonio; Corrêa, Luiz Carlos

    2012-09-01

    The cell cycle is controlled by numerous mechanisms that ensure correct cell division. If growth is not possible, cells may eventually promote autophagy, differentiation, or apoptosis. Microorganisms interrupt their growth and differentiate under general nutrient limitation. We analyzed the effects of phosphate limitation on growth and sporulation in the chytridiomycete Blastocladiella emersonii using kinetic data, phase-contrast, and laser confocal microscopy. Under phosphate limitation, zoospores germinated and subsequently formed 2-4 spores, regardless of the nutritional content of the medium. The removal of phosphate at any time during growth induced sporulation of vegetative cells. If phosphate was later added to the same cultures, growth was restored if the cells were not yet committed to sporulation. The cycles of addition and withdrawal of phosphate from growth medium resulted in cycles of germination-growth, germination-sporulation, or germination-growth-sporulation. These results show that phosphate limitation is sufficient to interrupt cell growth and to induce complete sporulation in B. emersonii. We concluded that the determination of growth or sporulation in this microorganism is linked to phosphate availability when other nutrients are not limiting. This result provides a new tool for the dissection of nutrient-energy and signal pathways in cell growth and differentiation.

  2. Developmental changes in translatable RNA species and protein synthesis during sporulation in the aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, A.M. da; Costa Maia, J.C. da; Juliani, M.H.

    1986-01-01

    Protein synthesis during sporulation in Blastocladiella emersonii is developmentally regulated as revealed using ( 35 S)methionine pulse labeling and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. A large increase in the synthesis of several proteins is associated with particular stages. A large number of basic proteins are synthesized exclusively during late sporulation. Changes in translatable mRNA species were also detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of the polypeptides produced in a cell-free rabbit reticulocyte lysate primed with RNA prepared at different stages of sporulation. The synthesis of several proteins during sporulation seems to be transcriptionally controlled. Most of the sporulation-specific messages are not present in the mature zoospores. (Author)

  3. Comparative EST analysis provides insights into the basal aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gomes Suely L

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Blastocladiella emersonii is an aquatic fungus of the Chytridiomycete class, which is at the base of the fungal phylogenetic tree. In this sense, some ancestral characteristics of fungi and animals or fungi and plants could have been retained in this aquatic fungus and lost in members of late-diverging fungal species. To identify in B. emersonii sequences associated with these ancestral characteristics two approaches were followed: (1 a large-scale comparative analysis between putative unigene sequences (uniseqs from B. emersonii and three databases constructed ad hoc with fungal proteins, animal proteins and plant unigenes deposited in Genbank, and (2 a pairwise comparison between B. emersonii full-length cDNA sequences and their putative orthologues in the ascomycete Neurospora crassa and the basidiomycete Ustilago maydis. Results Comparative analyses of B. emersonii uniseqs with fungi, animal and plant databases through the two approaches mentioned above produced 166 B. emersonii sequences, which were identified as putatively absent from other fungi or not previously described. Through these approaches we found: (1 possible orthologues of genes previously identified as specific to animals and/or plants, and (2 genes conserved in fungi, but with a large difference in divergence rate in B. emersonii. Among these sequences, we observed cDNAs encoding enzymes from coenzyme B12-dependent propionyl-CoA pathway, a metabolic route not previously described in fungi, and validated their expression in Northern blots. Conclusion Using two different approaches involving comparative sequence analyses, we could identify sequences from the early-diverging fungus B. emersonii previously considered specific to animals or plants, and highly divergent sequences from the same fungus relative to other fungi.

  4. Isolamento e caracterização parcial de sequências homólogas a genes ribossomais (rDNA em Blastocladiella emersonii - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v25i2.2037 Isolation and partial characterization of homologous sequences of ribosomal genes (rDNA in Blastocladiella emersonii

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Carlos Correa

    2003-04-01

    Full Text Available A definição e a caracterização de regiões de origens de replicação nos eucariotos superiores são ainda controversas. A iniciação da replicação é sítio-específica em alguns sistemas e, em outros, parece estar contida em regiões extensas. Regiões rDNA são modelos atrativos para o estudo de origens de replicação pela sua organização in tandem, reduzindo a área de estudo para o espaço restrito que codifica uma unidade de transcrição. Neste trabalho nós isolamos e caracterizamos parcialmente um clone que contém uma sequência ribossomal do fungo aquático Blastocladiella emersonii, Be97M20. Southern blots mostraram diversos sítios para enzimas de restrição Eco RI, HindIII e SalI. Northern blot de RNA total hibridado contra uma sonda feita com Be97M20 confirmou a sua homologia com o gene ribossomal 18S. A caracterização detalhada, incluindo o mapeamento de restrição completo, subclonagem, sequenciamento e análise em géis bidimensionais proverão informações adicionais importantes sobre a estrutura e dinâmica desta regiãoThe definition and the characterization of replication origins regions in higher eukaryotes are still controversial. The initiation of the replication is site-specific in some systems but seems to occur in large regions in others. Because of its in tandem organization, reducing the area to the restricted space that codifies an unit of transcription, rDNA regions are attractive models to study replication origins. In this work we isolated and started to characterize a clone that contains a ribosomal sequence from the aquatic fungus B. emersonii, Be97M20. Southern blots showed several sites for the restrition enzymes Eco RI, HindIII and SalI. A northern blot of total RNA, hybridized against a probe made from Be97M20, confirmed its homology with the ribosomal 18S gene. The detailed characterization, including complete restriction map, subcloning, sequence and analysis on bidimensional gels will

  5. Dicty_cDB: Contig-U16430-1 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ilis heat shock protei... 574 0.0 FM992694_186( FM992694 |pid:none) Candida dubliniensi...qlknqqtqqpvmifhh*kktmnhlkwkkstrfn llalllsifwnivill**nkf*kkcfkyikkkk Translated Amino Acid sequence (All Fram...6_1( DQ787196 |pid:none) Blastocladiella emersonii heat sho... 607 0.0 AB367527_1( AB367527 |pid:none) Solea senegalensi...at shock protein 90 [rats, brain, mR... 630 0.0 AY942619_1( AY942619 |pid:none) Leishmania braziliensis stra...lin,... 600 0.0 AM494970_34( AM494970 |pid:none) Leishmania braziliensi

  6. Optogenetic manipulation of cGMP in cells and animals by the tightly light-regulated guanylyl-cyclase opsin CyclOp.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Shiqiang; Nagpal, Jatin; Schneider, Martin W; Kozjak-Pavlovic, Vera; Nagel, Georg; Gottschalk, Alexander

    2015-09-08

    Cyclic GMP (cGMP) signalling regulates multiple biological functions through activation of protein kinase G and cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels. In sensory neurons, cGMP permits signal modulation, amplification and encoding, before depolarization. Here we implement a guanylyl cyclase rhodopsin from Blastocladiella emersonii as a new optogenetic tool (BeCyclOp), enabling rapid light-triggered cGMP increase in heterologous cells (Xenopus oocytes, HEK293T cells) and in Caenorhabditis elegans. Among five different fungal CyclOps, exhibiting unusual eight transmembrane topologies and cytosolic N-termini, BeCyclOp is the superior optogenetic tool (light/dark activity ratio: 5,000; no cAMP production; turnover (20 °C) ∼17 cGMP s(-1)). Via co-expressed CNG channels (OLF in oocytes, TAX-2/4 in C. elegans muscle), BeCyclOp photoactivation induces a rapid conductance increase and depolarization at very low light intensities. In O2/CO2 sensory neurons of C. elegans, BeCyclOp activation evokes behavioural responses consistent with their normal sensory function. BeCyclOp therefore enables precise and rapid optogenetic manipulation of cGMP levels in cells and animals.

  7. Repression of Proteases and Hsp90 Chaperone Expression Induced by an Antiretroviral in Virulent Environmental Strains of Cryptococcus neoformans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serafin, Cleber Fernando; Paris, Ana Paula; Paula, Claudete Rodrigues; Simão, Rita Cássia Garcia; Gandra, Rinaldo Ferreira

    2017-04-01

    This study evaluated the effect of the antiretroviral ritonavir on protease secretion in different strains of Cryptococcus neoformans isolated from the environment and investigated the expression of heat shock protein (Hsp90), classically described virulence factors in other yeast in the presence of the same antiretroviral. The presence of the enzyme was detected by the formation of a degradation of the halo around the colonies. The results were classified as follows: level 1 (without proteases), level 2 (positive for proteases), and level 3 (strongly positive for proteases). Total protein extract isolated from the cell walls of the 12 strains incubated in the absence and presence of ritonavir (0.3125 mg mL -1 ) were resolved by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by Western blot assays using an antiserum against Hsp90 from Blastocladiella emersonii. All strains tested showed inhibition of proteinase activity in the presence of ritonavir at 0.3125 to 1.25 mg mL -1 . High levels of Hsp90 were observed in the absence of ritonavir (0.3125 mg mL -1 ), except for the non-virulent control cells. In contrast, in the presence of the antiretroviral, a drastic reduction in the expression of the chaperone was observed. The data suggest that ritonavir, in addition to containing viral replication, could inhibit the expression of virulence factors in opportunistic yeast, as proteases and Hsp90. According to our current knowledge, this is the first time that the inhibition of Hsp90 by an antiretroviral was reported for environmental isolates of C. neoformans.