The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination
Rhodopsins are membrane-embedded photoreceptors found in all major taxonomic kingdoms using retinal as their chromophore. They play well-known functions in different biological systems, but their roles in fungi remain unknown. The filamentous fungus Fusarium fujikuroi contains two putative rhodopsin...
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| Format: | Online |
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Nature Publishing Group
2015
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4295100/ |
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pubmed-42951002015-01-27 The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination García-Martínez, Jorge Brunk, Michael Avalos, Javier Terpitz, Ulrich Article Rhodopsins are membrane-embedded photoreceptors found in all major taxonomic kingdoms using retinal as their chromophore. They play well-known functions in different biological systems, but their roles in fungi remain unknown. The filamentous fungus Fusarium fujikuroi contains two putative rhodopsins, CarO and OpsA. The gene carO is light-regulated, and the predicted polypeptide contains all conserved residues required for proton pumping. We aimed to elucidate the expression and cellular location of the fungal rhodopsin CarO, its presumed proton-pumping activity and the possible effect of such function on F. fujikuroi growth. In electrophysiology experiments we confirmed that CarO is a green-light driven proton pump. Visualization of fluorescent CarO-YFP expressed in F. fujikuroi under control of its native promoter revealed higher accumulation in spores (conidia) produced by light-exposed mycelia. Germination analyses of conidia from carO− mutant and carO+ control strains showed a faster development of light-exposed carO− germlings. In conclusion, CarO is an active proton pump, abundant in light-formed conidia, whose activity slows down early hyphal development under light. Interestingly, CarO-related rhodopsins are typically found in plant-associated fungi, where green light dominates the phyllosphere. Our data provide the first reliable clue on a possible biological role of a fungal rhodopsin. Nature Publishing Group 2015-01-15 /pmc/articles/PMC4295100/ /pubmed/25589426 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep07798 Text en Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder in order to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
García-Martínez, Jorge Brunk, Michael Avalos, Javier Terpitz, Ulrich |
| spellingShingle |
García-Martínez, Jorge Brunk, Michael Avalos, Javier Terpitz, Ulrich The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination |
| author_facet |
García-Martínez, Jorge Brunk, Michael Avalos, Javier Terpitz, Ulrich |
| author_sort |
García-Martínez, Jorge |
| title |
The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination |
| title_short |
The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination |
| title_full |
The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination |
| title_fullStr |
The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination |
| title_sort |
caro rhodopsin of the fungus fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination |
| description |
Rhodopsins are membrane-embedded photoreceptors found in all major taxonomic kingdoms using retinal as their chromophore. They play well-known functions in different biological systems, but their roles in fungi remain unknown. The filamentous fungus Fusarium fujikuroi contains two putative rhodopsins, CarO and OpsA. The gene carO is light-regulated, and the predicted polypeptide contains all conserved residues required for proton pumping. We aimed to elucidate the expression and cellular location of the fungal rhodopsin CarO, its presumed proton-pumping activity and the possible effect of such function on F. fujikuroi growth. In electrophysiology experiments we confirmed that CarO is a green-light driven proton pump. Visualization of fluorescent CarO-YFP expressed in F. fujikuroi under control of its native promoter revealed higher accumulation in spores (conidia) produced by light-exposed mycelia. Germination analyses of conidia from carO− mutant and carO+ control strains showed a faster development of light-exposed carO− germlings. In conclusion, CarO is an active proton pump, abundant in light-formed conidia, whose activity slows down early hyphal development under light. Interestingly, CarO-related rhodopsins are typically found in plant-associated fungi, where green light dominates the phyllosphere. Our data provide the first reliable clue on a possible biological role of a fungal rhodopsin. |
| publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
| publishDate |
2015 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4295100/ |
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1613176861350690816 |