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Comparative Transcriptomics of the Model Mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea Reveals Tissue-Specific Armories and a Conserved Circuitry for Sexual Development

Summary

This research examined how mushrooms regulate their genes during development and protect themselves from predators. The study revealed that different parts of the mushroom produce different defensive compounds depending on what threats they face. The researchers also found a set of genes that appear to be important for mushroom development across multiple species. Impacts on everyday life: – Helps understand how mushrooms defend themselves naturally against pests and predators – Provides insights that could lead to better mushroom cultivation methods – Reveals molecular mechanisms that could be useful for developing new antimicrobial compounds – Advances our understanding of fungal biology which is important for agriculture and medicine – Could contribute to developing more effective biological pest control strategies

Background

Sexual reproduction is a key feature across eukaryotes that evolved nearly 1.5 billion years ago, sharing common features like ploidy changes, meiotic recombination and cell-cell recognition. In basidiomycetes, mushroom development involves dramatic morphological changes driven by environmental conditions. The model mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea grows on horse dung and has been used since the 1950s due to its rapid growth and ability to produce fruiting bodies under defined laboratory conditions. While morphological changes during fruiting body formation are well described, less is known about the molecular mechanisms driving sexual reproduction in this organism.

Objective

The study had two main objectives: 1) To evaluate the tissue specificity of defense gene expression in the model mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea, and 2) To assess the degree of conservation in transcriptional regulation during sexual development across basidiomycetes.

Results

The study found that 11% of the protein-encoding genome was differentially expressed between primordia and mycelium. Many genes encoding predicted and characterized defense proteins showed tissue-specific expression patterns that correlated with the type of antagonists these tissues encounter. The stage 1 primordium-specific protein CC1G_11805 was demonstrated to be toxic to insects and nematodes. Comparison with L. bicolor and S. commune revealed conserved transcriptional regulation of nearly 70 loci during fruiting body formation. A Velvet domain-containing protein was found to be up-regulated in all three fungi.

Conclusion

The study demonstrates that exposure of different fungal tissues to different types of antagonists shapes the expression pattern of defense loci in a tissue-specific manner. Furthermore, it identifies a transcriptional circuitry conserved among basidiomycetes during fruiting body formation that involves the up-regulation of a Velvet domain-containing protein, suggesting a conserved role in sexual development.
  • Published in:BMC Genomics,
  • Study Type:Comparative Transcriptomics,
  • Source: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-492
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