Inositol-phosphate signaling as mediator for growth and sexual reproduction in Podospora anserina

• Published in: Developmental biology Vol. 429; no. 1; pp. 285 - 305
• Main Authors: Xie, Ning, Ruprich-Robert, Gwenaël, Chapeland-Leclerc, Florence, Coppin, Evelyne, Lalucque, Hervé, Brun, Sylvain, Debuchy, Robert, Silar, Philippe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2017; Elsevier
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Cell Nucleus - metabolism; Developmental mutants; Fertility; Fruiting Bodies, Fungal - metabolism; Fungal development; Fungal Proteins - chemistry; Fungal Proteins - metabolism; Genes, Fungal; Green Fluorescent Proteins - metabolism; Inositol; Inositol - metabolism; Inositol kinase; Inositol Phosphates - metabolism; Life Sciences; MAP Kinase Signaling System; Mosaicism; Multicellular fruiting bodies; Mutation - genetics; Perithecium; Phenotype; Pigments, Biological - metabolism; Podospora - enzymology; Podospora - genetics; Podospora - growth & development; Podospora - metabolism; Podospora anserina; Protein Transport; Reproduction; Signal Transduction; Sordariales - metabolism; Spores, Fungal - metabolism; Temperature; Zygote - metabolism; Inositol kinase; Multicellular fruiting bodies; Inositol; Podospora anserina; Fungal development; Developmental mutants; Perithecium
• ISSN: 0012-1606; 1095-564X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.06.017

The molecular pathways involved in the development of multicellular fruiting bodies in fungi are still not well known. Especially, the interplay between the mycelium, the female tissues and the zygotic tissues of the fruiting bodies is poorly documented. Here, we describe PM154, a new strain of the model ascomycetes Podospora anserina able to mate with itself and that enabled the easy recovery of new mutants affected in fruiting body development. By complete genome sequencing of spod1, one of the new mutants, we identified an inositol phosphate polykinase gene as essential, especially for fruiting body development. A factor present in the wild type and diffusible in mutant hyphae was able to induce the development of the maternal tissues of the fruiting body in spod1, but failed to promote complete development of the zygotic ones. Addition of myo-inositol in the growth medium was able to increase the number of developing fruiting bodies in the wild type, but not in spod1. Overall, the data indicated that inositol and inositol polyphosphates were involved in promoting fruiting body maturation, but also in regulating the number of fruiting bodies that developed after fertilization. The same effect of inositol was seen in two other fungi, Sordaria macrospora and Chaetomium globosum. Key role of the inositol polyphosphate pathway during fruiting body maturation appears thus conserved during the evolution of Sordariales fungi. •A new Podospora anserina strain enabling easy screening of development mutants was constructed.•Nineteen new developmental mutants were isolated.•PaIPK2, the gene affected in the spod1 mutant was identified as encoding an inositol polyphosphate kinase.•PaIPK2 was shown to be essential for growth and reproduction in P. anserina inositol was shown to regulate fruting body formation in three fungi anserina.•Inositol was shown to regulate fruting body formation in three fungi.