Microbiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Microbiology 154 (2008), 3567-3578; DOI  10.1099/mic.0.2008/019091-0
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary data
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by García-Rico, R. O.
Right arrow Articles by Martín, J. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by García-Rico, R. O.
Right arrow Articles by Martín, J. F.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by García-Rico, R. O.
Right arrow Articles by Martín, J. F.
Microbiology 154 (2008), 3567-3578; DOI  10.1099/mic.0.2008/019091-0
© 2008 Society for General Microbiology

The heterotrimeric G{alpha} protein Pga1 regulates biosynthesis of penicillin, chrysogenin and roquefortine in Penicillium chrysogenum

Ramón O. García-Rico1,2,{dagger}, Francisco Fierro1,2,{ddagger}, Elba Mauriz1, Ana Gómez1, María Ángeles Fernández-Bodega1 and Juan F. Martín1,2

1 Instituto de Biotecnología de León, INBIOTEC, Parque Científico de León, León 24006, Spain
2 Área de Microbiología, Fac. CC. Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad de León, León 24071, Spain

Correspondence
Juan F. Martín
jf.martin{at}unileon.es

We have studied the role of the pga1 gene of Penicillium chrysogenum, encoding the alpha subunit of a heterotrimeric G protein, in secondary metabolite production. The dominant activating pga1G42R mutation caused an increase in the production of the three secondary metabolites penicillin, the yellow pigment chrysogenin and the mycotoxin roquefortine, whereas the dominant inactivating pga1G203R allele and the deletion of the pga1 gene resulted in a decrease of the amount of produced penicillin and roquefortine. Chrysogenin is produced in solid medium as a yellow pigment, and its biosynthesis is clearly enhanced by the presence of the dominant activating pga1G42R allele. Roquefortine is produced associated with mycelium during the first 3 days in submerged cultures, and is released to the medium afterwards; dominant activating and inactivating pga1 mutations result in upregulation and downregulation of roquefortine biosynthesis recpectively. Pga1 regulates penicillin biosynthesis by controlling expression of the penicillin biosynthetic genes; the three genes pcbAB, pcbC and penDE showed elevated transcript levels in transformants expressing the pga1G42R allele, whereas in transformants with the inactivating pga1G203R allele and in the pga1-deleted mutant their transcript levels were lower than those in the parental strains. Increase of intracellular cAMP levels had no effect on penicillin production. In summary, the dominant activating pga1G42R allele upregulates the biosynthesis of three secondary metabolites in Penicillium chrysogenum to a different extent.

{dagger}Present address: Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad de Pamplona, Campus Universitario, Pamplona, Colombia.

{ddagger}Present address: División de Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, UAM-Xochimilco, México D.F. 04960, Mexico.

Two supplementary tables and two supplementary figures are available with the online version of this paper.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL
J MED MICROBIOL ALL SGM JOURNALS
Copyright © 2008 Society for General Microbiology.