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Transcriptional response of mushrooms to artificial sun exposure

Summary

As climate change causes more trees to die and forest canopies to open up, mushrooms on the forest floor are exposed to more intense sun and heat. Researchers exposed Shiitake mushrooms to artificial sunlight and found that the mushrooms activate protective molecular mechanisms, particularly heat-shock proteins, to cope with the stress. This suggests that mushrooms have built-in defenses against harsh sun exposure, though scientists are not yet sure if these defenses are strong enough to protect mushroom reproduction under real-world climate change conditions.

Background

Climate change causes increased tree mortality leading to canopy loss and sun-exposed forest floors with extreme temperatures and radiation. Current understanding of mushroom-specific molecular responses to sun exposure is limited. This study examines how mushrooms respond to environmental stress at the molecular level.

Objective

To understand the short-term transcriptional responses of mature mushrooms to enhanced sun exposure by exposing Lentinula edodes mushrooms to artificial solar light. The study aimed to identify differentially expressed genes and assess molecular defense mechanisms.

Results

Significant differentially expressed genes were found at 30 and 60 minutes but not at 5 minutes. KOG class enrichment analysis revealed upregulation of defense mechanisms and heat-shock proteins at 60 minutes. The 20 most significant genes showed expression of heat-shock proteins, indicating active heat stress responses.

Conclusion

Mushrooms display mushroom-specific molecular responses to cope with short-term sun exposure, suggesting coping mechanisms are active to respond to climate change. However, whether these molecular responses are sufficient to maintain fungal fitness under opening forest canopies requires further investigation.
  • Published in:Ecology and Evolution,
  • Study Type:Experimental Study,
  • Source: 10.1002/ece3.7862 / 34367595
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