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Characterization of the conserved phosphorylation site in the Aspergillus nidulans response regulator SrrA

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An Erratum to this article was published on 12 April 2011

An Erratum to this article was published on 12 April 2011

Abstract

Ssk1- and Skn7-type response regulators are widely conserved in fungal His–Asp phosphorelay (two-component) signaling systems. SrrA, a Skn7-type RR of Aspergillus nidulans, is implicated not only in oxidative stress responses but also in osmotic adaptation, conidia production (asexual development), inhibition by fungicides, and cell wall stress resistance. Here, we characterized SrrA, focusing on the role of the conserved aspartate residue in the receiver domain, which is essential for phosphorelay function. We constructed strains carrying an SrrA protein in which aspartate residue D385 was replaced with either asparagine (N) or alanine (A). These mutants exhibited normal conidiation and partial oxidative stress resistance. In osmotic adaptation, mutants with substitution at SrrA D385 showed as much sensitivity as ΔsrrA strains, suggesting that SrrA plays a role in osmotic stress adaptation in a phosphorelay-dependent manner. The SrrA D385 substitution mutants showed significant resistance to fungicides and cell wall stresses. These results together led us to conclude that the conserved aspartate residue has a substantial impact on SrrA function, and that SrrA plays a role in several aspects of cellular function via His–Asp phosphorelay circuitry in Aspergillus nidulans.

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Acknowledgments

D. Hagiwara was supported by a research fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. K. Abe was supported in part by grants from the Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution (BRAIN).

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  1. Daisuke Hagiwara

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8551, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New Industry Creation Hatchery Center, Tohoku University, 6-6-10 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan

    Daisuke Hagiwara & Keietsu Abe

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, School of Agriculture, Nagoya University, Furocho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Takeshi Mizuno

  3. Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Amamiya, Tsutsumi-dori, Sendai, 981-8555, Japan

    Keietsu Abe

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  1. Daisuke Hagiwara
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Correspondence to Daisuke Hagiwara or Keietsu Abe.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Brakhage.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00294-011-0337-3

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294_2010_330_MOESM1_ESM.ppt

Fig. S1 Sequence analyses of the HSF and receiver domains of SrrA. a Alignment of heat-shock-factor domains of SrrA. The amino acid sequence of HSF of SrrA was aligned with those of other fungi by the Clustal X program. The numbers shown at the ends of each sequence indicate positions from the initiation peptide. b Phylogenetic tree of receiver domain of the fungal Skn7-type RRs. The phylogenetic tree was built by using Tree View software based on sequence alignment of the receiver domains of SrrA orthologs (Table 1).(PPT 115 kb)

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Hagiwara, D., Mizuno, T. & Abe, K. Characterization of the conserved phosphorylation site in the Aspergillus nidulans response regulator SrrA. Curr Genet 57, 103–114 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-010-0330-2

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