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PMID: 18575630 Published · epublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

A cytosine methyltransferase homologue is essential for sexual development in Aspergillus nidulans.

PloS one ·Vol. 3 ·No. 6 ·2008-06-25 ·Pages e2531

Lee DW, Freitag M, Selker EU, Aramayo R

Abstract

The genome defense processes RIP (repeat-induced point mutation) in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, and MIP (methylation induced premeiotically) in the fungus Ascobolus immersus depend on proteins with DNA methyltransferase (DMT) domains. Nevertheless, these proteins, RID and Masc1, respectively, have not been demonstrated to have DMT activity. We discovered a close homologue in Aspergillus nidulans, a fungus thought to have no methylation and no genome defense system comparable to RIP or MIP. We report the cloning and characterization of the DNA methyltransferase homologue A (dmtA) gene from Aspergillus nidulans. We found that the dmtA locus encodes both a sense (dmtA) and an anti-sense transcript (tmdA). Both transcripts are expressed in vegetative, conidial and sexual tissues. We determined that dmtA, but not tmdA, is required for early sexual development and formation of viable ascospores. We also tested if DNA methylation accumulated in any of the dmtA/tmdA mutants we constructed, and found that in both asexual and sexual tissues, these mutants, just like wild-type strains, appear devoid of DNA methylation. Our results demonstrate that a DMT homologue closely related to proteins implicated in RIP and MIP has an essential developmental function in a fungus that appears to lack both DNA methylation and RIP or MIP. It remains formally possible that DmtA is a bona fide DMT, responsible for trace, undetected DNA methylation that is restricted to a few cells or transient but our work supports the idea that the DMT domain present in the RID/Masc1/DmtA family has a previously undescribed function.

MeSH Terms
Aspergillus nidulans/drug effects,enzymology,growth & development,physiology Azacitidine/pharmacology DNA Methylation Fungal Proteins/genetics,metabolism Methyltransferases/genetics,metabolism Plasmids Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Chemicals
Fungal Proteins Methyltransferases omtA protein, Aspergillus Azacitidine
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Lee Dong W
Department of Biology, College of Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America.
Freitag Michael
Selker Eric U
Aramayo Rodolfo
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Article Info
Journal
PloS one
Abbr.
PLoS One
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0002531
Published
2008-06-25
Epub
2008-00-25
Pages
e2531
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
101285081
PMCID
PMC2432034
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM058770 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM58770 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R37 GM035690 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM035690 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM35690 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002531 PMC Full Text View journal details
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