This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Levin, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Wösten, H. A. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Levin, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Wösten, H. A. B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Eukaryotic Cell, December 2007, p. 2311-2322, Vol. 6, No. 12
1535-9778/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00244-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Spatial Differentiation in the Vegetative Mycelium of Aspergillus niger{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Ana M. Levin,1,{ddagger} Ronald P. de Vries,1,{ddagger} Ana Conesa,2,§ Charissa de Bekker,1 Manuel Talon,2 Hildegard H. Menke,3 Noel N. M. E. van Peij,3 and Han A. B. Wösten1*

Microbiology, Institute of Biomembranes, Utrecht University, Padulaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands,1 Centro de Genomica, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Moncada, Valencia, Spain,2 DSM Food Specialties, P.O. Box 1, 2600 MA Delft, The Netherlands3

Received 5 July 2007/ Accepted 10 October 2007

Fungal mycelia are exposed to heterogenic substrates. The substrate in the central part of the colony has been (partly) degraded, whereas it is still unexplored at the periphery of the mycelium. We here assessed whether substrate heterogeneity is a main determinant of spatial gene expression in colonies of Aspergillus niger. This question was addressed by analyzing whole-genome gene expression in five concentric zones of 7-day-old maltose- and xylose-grown colonies. Expression profiles at the periphery and the center were clearly different. More than 25% of the active genes showed twofold differences in expression between the inner and outermost zones of the colony. Moreover, 9% of the genes were expressed in only one of the five concentric zones, showing that a considerable part of the genome is active in a restricted part of the colony only. Statistical analysis of expression profiles of colonies that had either been or not been transferred to fresh xylose-containing medium showed that differential expression in a colony is due to the heterogeneity of the medium (e.g., genes involved in secretion, genes encoding proteases, and genes involved in xylose metabolism) as well as to medium-independent mechanisms (e.g., genes involved in nitrate metabolism and genes involved in cell wall synthesis and modification). Thus, we conclude that the mycelia of 7-day-old colonies of A. niger are highly differentiated. This conclusion is also indicated by the fact that distinct zones of the colony grow and secrete proteins, even after transfer to fresh medium.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Microbiology, Institute of Biomembranes, Utrecht University, Padulaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands. Phone: 31 302533048. Fax: 31 302513655. E-mail: h.a.b.wosten{at}uu.nl

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 19 October 2007.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://ec.asm.org/.

{ddagger} These authors contributed equally to the manuscript.

§ Present address: Bioinformatics Department, CIPF, 46013 Valencia, Spain.

Eukaryotic Cell, December 2007, p. 2311-2322, Vol. 6, No. 12
1535-9778/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00244-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Zaugg, C., Monod, M., Weber, J., Harshman, K., Pradervand, S., Thomas, J., Bueno, M., Giddey, K., Staib, P. (2009). Gene Expression Profiling in the Human Pathogenic Dermatophyte Trichophyton rubrum during Growth on Proteins. Eukaryot Cell 8: 241-250 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kasuga, T., Glass, N. L. (2008). Dissecting Colony Development of Neurospora crassa Using mRNA Profiling and Comparative Genomics Approaches. Eukaryot Cell 7: 1549-1564 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»