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Eukaryotic Cell, October 2009, p. 1475-1485, Vol. 8, No. 10
1535-9778/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00040-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Aspergillus nidulans Protein O-Mannosyltransferases Play Roles in Cell Wall Integrity and Developmental Patterning{triangledown}

Thanyanuch Kriangkripipat and Michelle Momany*

Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602

Received 1 February 2009/ Accepted 27 July 2009

Protein O-mannosyltransferases (Pmts) initiate O-mannosyl glycan biosynthesis from Ser and Thr residues of target proteins. Fungal Pmts are divided into three subfamilies, Pmt1, -2, and -4. Aspergillus nidulans possesses a single representative of each Pmt subfamily, pmtA (subfamily 2), pmtB (subfamily 1), and pmtC (subfamily 4). In this work, we show that single {Delta}pmt mutants are viable and have unique phenotypes and that the {Delta}pmtA {Delta}pmtB double mutant is the only viable double mutant. This makes A. nidulans the first fungus in which all members of individual Pmt subfamilies can be deleted without loss of viability. At elevated temperatures, all A. nidulans {Delta}pmt mutants show cell wall-associated defects and increased sensitivity to cell wall-perturbing agents. The {Delta}pmt mutants also show defects in developmental patterning. Germ tube emergence is early in {Delta}pmtA and more frequent in {Delta}pmtC mutants than in the wild type. In {Delta}pmtB mutants, intrahyphal hyphae develop. All {Delta}pmt mutants show distinct conidiophore defects. The {Delta}pmtA strain has swollen vesicles and conidiogenous cells, the {Delta}pmtB strain has swollen conidiophore stalks, and the {Delta}pmtC strain has dramatically elongated conidiophore stalks. We also show that AN5660, an ortholog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Wsc1p, is modified by PmtA and PmtC. The {Delta}pmt phenotypes at elevated temperatures, increased sensitivity to cell wall-perturbing agents and restoration to wild-type growth with osmoticum suggest that A. nidulans Pmts modify proteins in the cell wall integrity pathway. The altered developmental patterns in {Delta}pmt mutants suggest that A. nidulans Pmts modify proteins that serve as spatial cues.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Plant Biology, Miller Plant Sciences, 120 Carlton Street, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Phone: (706) 542-2014. Fax: (706) 542-1805. E-mail: momany{at}plantbio.uga.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 7 August 2009.

Eukaryotic Cell, October 2009, p. 1475-1485, Vol. 8, No. 10
1535-9778/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00040-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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