Journal article
A Plastic Vegetative Growth Threshold Governs Reproductive Capacity in Aspergillus nidulans
Luke M Noble, Linda M Holland, Alisha J McLauchlan, Alex Andrianopoulos
GENETICS | OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC | Published : 2016
Abstract
Ontogenetic phases separating growth from reproduction are a common feature of cellular life. Long recognized for flowering plants and animals, early literature suggests this life-history component may also be prevalent among multicellular fungi. We establish the basis of developmental competence-the capacity to respond to induction of asexual development-in the filamentous saprotroph Aspergillus nidulans, describing environmental influences, including genotype-by-environment interactions among precocious mutants, gene expression associated with wild type and precocious competence acquisition, and the genetics of competence timing. Environmental effects are consistent with a threshold driven..
View full abstractGrants
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Mary Teo, Katrin Hubner, and Sophie Davidson for experimental contributions; Len Kelly, Phil Batterham, and members of the Hynes/Davis/Andrianopoulos laboratory for constructive discussions; Alicia Oshlack for statistical advice; and Joe Heitman, Tom Harrop, Annalise Paaby, Christina Zakas, Luke Heaton, and David Axelrod for improving the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council to A.A. and an Australian Postgraduate Award to L.M.N. L.M.H is supported by the Irish Research Council, ELEVATE International Career Development fellowship-cofunded by Marie Curie Actions.