Current Genomics - Volume 17, Issue 2, 2016

Filamentous fungi are remarkable organisms naturally specialized in deconstructing plant biomass and this feature has a tremendous potential for biofuel production from renewable sources. The past decades have been marked by a remarkable progress in the genetic engineering of fungi to generate industry-compatible strains needed for some biotech applications. In this sense, progress in this field has been marked by the Read More

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are proteins whose transcription responds rapidly to temperature shifts. They constitute a family of molecular chaperones, involved in the proper folding and stabilisation of proteins under physiological and adverse conditions. HSPs also assist in the protection and recovery of cells exposed to a variety of stressful conditions, including heat. The role of HSPs extends beyond chaperonin Read More

Paracoccidioidomycosis is the most prevalent systemic mycosis in Latin America. It is caused by the temperature- dependent dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. The P. brasiliensis cell wall is a dynamic outer structure, composed of a network of glycoproteins and polysaccharides, such as chitin, glucan and N-glycosylated proteins. These glycoproteins can interact with the host to affect infection rates, and are know Read More

Carbon catabolite repression (CCR) mediated by CRE1 in Trichoderma reesei emerged as a mechanism by which the fungus could adapt to new environments. In the presence of readily available carbon sources such as glucose, the fungus activates this mechanism and inhibits the production of cellulolytic complex enzymes to avoid unnecessary energy expenditure. CCR has been well described for the growth of T. reesei in cel Read More

A total of 106 maize seed samples were collected from different agro-climatic regions of India. Sixty-two Fusarium isolates were recovered, 90% of which were identified as Fusarium verticillioides based on morphological and molecular characters. Use of the tef-1α gene corrected/refined the morphological species identifications of 11 isolates, and confirmed those of the remaining isolates. Genetic diversity among the Fusariu Read More

The ascomycete Trichoderma reesei is used for the production of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes in industrial scale. The interplay of the transactivator Xyr1 and the repressor Cre1 mainly regulates the expression of these enzymes. During inducing conditions, such as in the presence of sophorose, the transcription of the two major cellulase-encoding genes, cbh1 and cbh2, is activated as well as the expression of xyr1. Read More