Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Conditional gene expression reveals stage-specific functions of the unfolded protein response in the Ustilago maydis/maize pathosystem

Lara Schmitz, View ORCID ProfileJames W. Kronstad, View ORCID ProfileKai Heimel
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/775692
Lara Schmitz
1Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Genetics, Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB), University of Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
3International Research Training Group 2172 PRoTECT, Göttingen-Vancouver
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
James W. Kronstad
2Michael Smith Laboratories, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4
3International Research Training Group 2172 PRoTECT, Göttingen-Vancouver
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for James W. Kronstad
Kai Heimel
1Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Genetics, Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB), University of Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
3International Research Training Group 2172 PRoTECT, Göttingen-Vancouver
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Kai Heimel
  • For correspondence: kheimel@gwdg.de
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Summary

Ustilago maydis is a model organism to study biotrophic plant-pathogen interactions. Sexual and pathogenic development of the fungus are tightly connected since fusion of compatible haploid sporidia is prerequisite for infection of the host plant, maize (Zea mays). After plant penetration, the unfolded protein response (UPR) is activated and required for biotrophic growth. The UPR is continuously active throughout all stages of pathogenic development in planta. However, since development of UPR deletion mutants stops directly after plant penetration, the role of an active UPR at later stages of development has/could not be examined, yet. Here, we establish a gene expression system for U. maydis that uses endogenous, conditionally active promoters to either induce or repress expression of a gene of interest during different stages of plant infection. Integration of the expression constructs into the native genomic locus and removal of resistance cassettes were required to obtain a wild type-like expression pattern. This indicates that genomic localization and chromatin structure are important for correct promoter activity and gene expression. By conditional expression of the central UPR regulator, Cib1, in U. maydis, we show that a functional UPR is required for continuous plant defense suppression after host infection and that U. maydis relies on a robust control system to prevent deleterious UPR hyperactivation.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted September 19, 2019.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Conditional gene expression reveals stage-specific functions of the unfolded protein response in the Ustilago maydis/maize pathosystem
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Conditional gene expression reveals stage-specific functions of the unfolded protein response in the Ustilago maydis/maize pathosystem
Lara Schmitz, James W. Kronstad, Kai Heimel
bioRxiv 775692; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/775692
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Conditional gene expression reveals stage-specific functions of the unfolded protein response in the Ustilago maydis/maize pathosystem
Lara Schmitz, James W. Kronstad, Kai Heimel
bioRxiv 775692; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/775692

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Genetics
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4687)
  • Biochemistry (10371)
  • Bioengineering (7689)
  • Bioinformatics (26358)
  • Biophysics (13544)
  • Cancer Biology (10713)
  • Cell Biology (15452)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (8508)
  • Ecology (12831)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (16877)
  • Genetics (11407)
  • Genomics (15489)
  • Immunology (10632)
  • Microbiology (25242)
  • Molecular Biology (10233)
  • Neuroscience (54565)
  • Paleontology (402)
  • Pathology (1670)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2898)
  • Physiology (4350)
  • Plant Biology (9263)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1587)
  • Synthetic Biology (2558)
  • Systems Biology (6786)
  • Zoology (1470)