Polyphenol oxidases in plants

We present an analysis of over 1,100 of the approximately 10,000 predicted proteins encoded by the genome sequence of the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. Seven major areas of Neurospora genomics and biology are covered. First, the basic features of the genome, including the automated assembly, gene calls, and global gene analyses are summarized. The second section covers components of the centromere and kinetochore complexes, chromatin assembly and modification, and transcription and translation initiation factors. The third area discusses genome defense mechanisms, including repeat induced point mutation, quelling and meiotic silencing, and DNA repair and recombination. In the fourth section, topics relevant to metabolism and transport include extracellular digestion; membrane transporters; aspects of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and lipid metabolism; the mitochondrion and energy metabolism; the proteasome; and protein glycosylation, secretion, and endocytosis. Environmental sensing is the focus of the fifth section with a treatment of two-component systems; GTP-binding proteins; mitogen-activated protein, p21-activated, and germinal center kinases; calcium signaling; protein phosphatases; photobiology; circadian rhythms; and heat shock and stress responses. The sixth area of analysis is growth and development; it encompasses cell wall synthesis, proteins important for hyphal polarity, cytoskeletal components, the cyclin/cyclin-dependent kinase machinery, macroconidiation, meiosis, and the sexual cycle. The seventh section covers topics relevant to animal and plant pathogenesis and human disease. The results demonstrate that a large proportion of Neurospora genes do not have homologues in the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The group of unshared genes includes potential new targets for antifungals as well as loci implicated in human and plant physiology and disease.

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Lessons from the Genome Sequence of Neurospora crassa: Tracing the Path from Genomic Blueprint to Multicellular Organism

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the effects of alcohols on microorganisms. Alcohols are ubiquitous small molecules, which are produced both chemically and as products of microbial fermentation. Accumulation of alcohols in the microbial environment represents a form of environmental stress, analogous to extremes in pH value and temperature. The chapter discusses the action of ethanol and other alcohols on microorganisms, explains several important mechanisms of action. Alcohols have been employed for many years both as a disinfectant and as a preservative. Concentrations of ethanol above 15% result in immediate inactivation of most vegetative organisms, with spores being considerably more resistant. Low concentrations of ethanol also render bacteria more sensitive to inactivation by ionizing radiation and by lipophilic acids. The chapter concludes that the basic actions of alcohols on both eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms share the same general principles. These effects appear to be dominated by the physicochemical properties of alcohols rather than involving specific receptors. All hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions in the cytosolic and envelope components of cells can potentially be affected. These include membranes, conformations of enzymes and macromolecules, activity coefficients of metabolites, permitivity, ionization potentials, pK values of functional groups, and pH value.

Effects of Alcohols on Micro-Organisms

Chromosomal loci of Neurospora crassa.

https://mmbr.asm.org/content/mmbr/42/1/161.full.pdf

Genome comparison in yeast systematics: delimitation of species within the genera Schwanniomyces, Saccharomyces, Debaryomyces, and Pichia.

In a fungus, Allomyces macrogynus Em., staining tests have revealed changes in the location of cytoplasmic basophilia following different phases of the developmental cycle. These variations in location were used to observe which fine structures correspond to basophile and non-basophile areas of the cytoplasm. Hyphae, gametangia, zygotes, and plants were fixed at various developmental stages in OsO(4), pH 6.1, and embedded in vestopal. Sections were examined in the electron microscope. Comparison of basophile and non-basophile cytoplasms leads to the conclusion that cytoplasmic particles of 150 to 200 A in diameter are responsible for basophilia. The possibility of these particles being ribosomes is discussed and confirmed. The present paper also describes some observations on the fine structure of other cellular components of this fungus, such as nuclei, mitochondria, various granules, and flagella.

/pdf/relation-between-basophilia-and-fine-structure-of-cytoplasm-ius2wswx2r.pdf

Relation between basophilia and fine structure of cytoplasm in the fungus Allomyces macrogynus Em.

Thus, from the gene to the character, and back from the typical character (standard conidium) to the gene, we have traced a few of the biosynthetic pathways which must obligatorily be triggered (switched on or off) to effect the transition from the relatively undifferentiated vegetative hyphae through the fertile, conidiogenous hyphae to the differentiated cells, the conidia. There is good promise that further, deeper studies will finally revealNeurospora to have one of the most highly integrated control systems for eucaryotic sporogenesis when considered as a model of cell differentiation.

Conidiation in Neurospora

Conidia ofNeurospora crassa shaken in liquid cultures at 46°C for 15 h and then shifted-down to 25°C germinate directly into conidiophores producing new conidia (macroconidia).

Conidiation ofNeurospora crassa in submerged culture without mycelial phase

Light and electron microscopic observations on vegetative hyphae ofAllomyces arbuscula revealed the specialized organization of the tip. There were some minor differences related to culture conditions, but the main ultrastructural features common to all hyphal tips disclosed a special type of organization distinct from that of other fungi. A crescent-shaped apical zone consisted of vesicles and membrane cisternae embedded in a granular matrix. Vesicles fused with the apical plasmalemma and presumably contributed to its expansion and to wall growth. The apical zone contained few ribosomes and generally no other organelles. Mitochondria were concentrated in the immediate subapical zone and scattered through the remainder of the hyphae, as were microbodies. Microtubules formed an asterlike structure with its center in the apical zone. Proximally of the apex, microtubules were axially oriented. Nuclei occurred only a certain distance from the tip. The elements of the apex may maintain the polarity of the hyphae via a gradient and hold it in a state of vegetative growth.

Hyphal tip organization inAllomyces arbuscula

La biosynthese des carotenoides chez Mycobacterium phlei est presque totalement inhibee par la diphenylamine a de faibles concentrations (1/35000 par ex.). Cette inhibition n'est levee que par le fer (0,1 mg/100 cm3 suffit) a l'exclusion des autres metaux oxydoreductibles (Mn, Co, Ni, Cu).

Gilbert Turian

Papers

Relation between basophilia and fine structure of cytoplasm in the fungus Allomyces macrogynus Em.

Conidiation in Neurospora

Conidiation ofNeurospora crassa in submerged culture without mycelial phase

Hyphal tip organization inAllomyces arbuscula

Recherches sur la biosynthèse des caroténoïdes chez un Bacille paratuberculeux. III. Inhibition de la pigmentation par la diphénylamine