Cellular differentiation, mating, and filamentous growth are regulated in many fungi by environmental and nutritional signals. For example, in response to nitrogen limitation, diploid cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergo a dimorphic transition to filamentous growth referred to as pseudohyphal differentiation. Yeast filamentous growth is regulated, in part, by two conserved signal transduction cascades: a mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade and a G-protein regulated cyclic AMP signaling pathway. Related signaling cascades play an analogous role in regulating mating and virulence in the plant fungal pathogen Ustilago maydis and the human fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida albicans. We review here studies on the signaling cascades that regulate development of these and other fungi. This analysis illustrates both how the model yeast S. cerevisiae can serve as a paradigm for signaling in other organisms and also how studies in other fungi provide insights into conserved signaling pathways that operate in many divergent organisms.

Signal Transduction Cascades Regulating Fungal Development and Virulence

Teleost fishes represent a highly diverse group consisting of more than 20,000 species living across all aquatic environments. This group has significant economical, societal and environmental impacts, yet research efforts have concentrated primarily on salmonid and cyprinid species. This review examines carbohydrate/glucose metabolism and its regulation in these model species including the role of hormones and diet. Over the past decade, molecular tools have been used to address some of the downstream components of these processes and these are incorporated to better understand the roles played by carbohydrates and their regulatory paths. Glucose metabolism remains a contentious area as many fish species are traditionally considered glucose intolerant and, therefore, one might expect that the use and storage of glucose would be considered of minor importance. However, the actual picture is not so clear since the apparent intolerance of fish to carbohydrates is not evident in herbivorous and omnivorous species and even in carnivorous species, glucose is important for specific tissues and/or for specific activities. Thus, our aim is to up-date carbohydrate metabolism in fish, placing it to the context of these new experimental tools and its relationship to dietary intake. Finally, we suggest that new research directions ultimately will lead to a better understanding of these processes.

Glucose metabolism in fish: a review

All animals face the possibility of limitations in food resources that could ultimately lead to starvation-induced mortality. The primary goal of this review is to characterize the various physiological strategies that allow different animals to survive starvation. The ancillary goals of this work are to identify areas in which investigations of starvation can be improved and to discuss recent advances and emerging directions in starvation research. The ubiquity of food limitation among animals, inconsistent terminology associated with starvation and fasting, and rationale for scientific investigations into starvation are discussed. Similarities and differences with regard to carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism during starvation are also examined in a comparative context. Examples from the literature are used to underscore areas in which reporting and statistical practices, particularly those involved with starvation-induced changes in body composition and starvation-induced hypometabolism can be improved. The review concludes by highlighting several recent advances and promising research directions in starvation physiology. Because the hundreds of studies reviewed here vary so widely in their experimental designs and treatments, formal comparisons of starvation responses among studies and taxa are generally precluded; nevertheless, it is my aim to provide a starting point from which we may develop novel approaches, tools, and hypotheses to facilitate meaningful investigations into the physiology of starvation in animals.

Starvation physiology: reviewing the different strategies animals use to survive a common challenge.

The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans switches from a budding yeast form to a polarized hyphal form in response to various external signals. This morphogenetic switching has been implicated in...

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Signaling through adenylyl cyclase is essential for hyphal growth and virulence in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans

Chromosomal loci of Neurospora crassa.

Effects of starvation, refeeding, and insulin on energy-linked metabolic processes in catfish (Rhamdia hilarii) adapted to a carbohydrate-rich diet

Mitochondrial alterations in skeletal muscle submitted to total ischemia.

The inability to synthesize cyclic AMP drastically affects the nutritional metabolism of Neurospora crassa. The adenylyl cyclase-less mutant cr-1 (crisp) did not utilize several carbon sources, including glycerol, mannitol, arabinose, and casaminoacids. However, in glucose or acetate it grew as well as the wild type. The following evidence suggested that these nutritional deficiencies were a direct result of the cr-1 mutation: (i), in crosses to wild type they segregated together with the crisp morphological marker; (ii), cyclic AMP added to the cr-1 mutant growth medium overcame the nutritional deficiencies; (iii), the cyclic AMP effect was specific for the crisp mutant, for it was not observed with the wild type, nor with a spontaneous glycerolutilizing cr-1 strain.

Adenylyl cyclase deficient cr-1 (Crisp) mutant of Neurospora crassa: Cyclic AMP-dependent nutritional deficiencies

Intravenous glucose tolerance tests and measurements with [6-3H]glucose of rate of glucose replacement, transit time, and body glucose mass were performed in fed and fasted Hoplias malabaricus. Both glycemia levels and the rate of decline of blood glucose following intravenous administration of 500 mg/kg glucose were significantly lower in 60-day-fasted than in fed fish. Changes in plasma free fatty acids were opposite to those in blood glucose. The rate of glucose replacement, calculated graphically from mean +/- 3 SE plots of glucose specific radioactivity, was 0.71 (0.66-0.77) mg.kg-1.min-1 in fed H. malabaricus and decreased to 0.51 (0.46-0.56) mg.kg-1.min-1 after 60 days without food, with a concomitant reduction of body glucose mass (mmin, 138 vs. 83 mg/kg). In fish starved for 10 mo the rate of glucose replacement and body glucose mass were further reduced to 0.35 (0.29-0.42) mg.kg-1.min-1 and 57 mg/kg (mmin), respectively. It is concluded that a progressive decline in the rate of glucose utilization contributes to the adaptation of fish to prolonged fasting.

Effect of fasting on glucose-turnover in a carnivorous fish (hoplias sp)

https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hep.1840160432

J E S Roselino

Papers

Effects of starvation, refeeding, and insulin on energy-linked metabolic processes in catfish (Rhamdia hilarii) adapted to a carbohydrate-rich diet

Mitochondrial alterations in skeletal muscle submitted to total ischemia.

Adenylyl cyclase deficient cr-1 (Crisp) mutant of Neurospora crassa: Cyclic AMP-dependent nutritional deficiencies

Effect of fasting on glucose-turnover in a carnivorous fish (hoplias sp)

Lack of control of liver gluconeogenesis in cholestatic rats with reduced portal blood flow.