The heat shock and calcium signaling proteins are necessary for development and stress tolerances in Neurospora crassa
The heat shock and calcium signaling proteins are necessary for development and stress tolerances in Neurospora crassa
Rahul Kumar Thaosen1, Surabhi Gupta1, Sangeeta Deka2, Megha Rasaily1, Shomina Dehury1, and Ranjan Tamuli1,2,*
1Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering
2Centre for the Environment
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Guwahati-781 039
Assam, India.
* ranjantamuli@iitg.ac.in, ranjan.tam@gmail.com
Neurospora crassa possess all the major classes of heat shock protein (Hsp) families found in eukaryotes. The N. crassa genome contains about 63 Hsp proteins grouped in 15 different families. We investigated the cell functions of Hsp80, a member of the Hsp90 family. We generated hsp80 mutants using the repeat-induced point (RIP) mutation. The hsp80RIP mutants are defective and asexual and sexual developmental processes and sensitive to a variety of stress conditions, including heat shock and ultraviolet (UV) irradiations. Similarly, the crz-1RIP mutants exhibited developmental defects. CRZ-1 is regulated by the calcium signaling protein calcineurin, which is necessary for responses to drugs in N. crassa. Another calcium signaling component, protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in light sensing and carotenoid production. Cell functions for another transcription factor HSF-1 in thermotolearnce is currently under investigation. Therefore, heat-shock and calcium signaling pathways are critical for development and stress tolerances in N. crassa.
