FOR 1334:  Determinants of Polarised Growth and Development in Filamentous Fungi

• Subject Area: Biology
• Term: from 2010 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 140043741

Filamentous fungi are widely distributed in nature and are important for the remineralisation of organic matter. This metabolic versatility has been used for food production for thousands of years. In addition, most filamentous fungi have a pronounced secondary metabolism and produce many antibiotics but also cancerogenic or toxic organic molecules. There are several pathogenic fungi know, which cause severe infections and especially in immunosuppressed patients cause death. Plant pathogenic fungi are also very common. One feature common to all different filamentous fungi is their growth form, the indefinitely growing hypha.
The projects of this bi-national Research Unit focus on different aspects of the cell biology of filamentous fungi to understand the mechanisms of polarised growth. One focus is the analysis of the role of different cytoskeletons and their associated motor proteins. These elements serve as transport routes for small vesicles, which fuse at the hyphal tip with the membrane thereby enlarging the membrane but also secreting their content. They probably transport enzymes required for cell wall biosynthesis.
The cell biological processes are linked and interwoven with many other cellular processes, one of which is oxidative stress. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) does not only cause damage to the cell, but ROS may also serve as signalling molecules. The impact of ROS on hyphal growth will be studied by several groups. Most filamentous fungi have the capability to reprogramme their cell growth and develop reproductive structures, which produce spores, small entities for the distribution in nature. The adaptation processes of cell growth during development are also an important focus of the programme.
The projects of this Research Unit do not only concentrate on one fungus, but rather on several species with the hope to unravel more general mechanisms of hyphal growth.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• International Connection: Mexico

Projects

• Central Project (Applicant Fischer, Reinhard )
• Central Project (Applicant Fischer, Reinhard )
• Gene expression profiling for the identification of polarity determinants during fungal development: Characterization of NOX enzymes (Applicant Kück, Ulrich )
• Interplay between controlled protein degradation, response to oxidative stress and polarized growth in Aspergillus fumigatus (Applicant Braus, Gerhard H. )
• Polarized growth and the role of detyrosinated microtubules (Applicant Fischer, Reinhard )
• Redox regulation, development and hyphal growth in Aspergillus nidulans (Applicant Brakhage, Axel )
• The role of PAM2 proteins during polar growth of U. maydis (Applicant Feldbrügge, Michael )
• The role of small GTPases for exocyst localization and regulation of polar growth in Ustilago maydis (Applicant Bölker, Michael )
• The role of the conserved Schizosaccharomyces pombe 1/3 inositol polyphosphate kinase Asp1 in polarized growth (Applicant Fleig, Ursula-Nicole )
• Transcriptional networks controlling polarized growth in U. maydis (Applicant Kämper, Jörg )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Reinhard Fischer