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Identification and Characterization of Two New S-Adenosylmethionine-Dependent Methyltransferase Encoding Genes Suggested Their Involvement in Stipe Elongation of Flammulina velutipes

Summary

This research identified and studied two important genes in the winter mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) that help control how the mushroom’s stem grows. The study reveals how these genes become more active specifically when the mushroom’s stem is elongating, suggesting they play a crucial role in mushroom development. Impacts on everyday life: • Helps improve commercial mushroom cultivation techniques • Contributes to better understanding of how edible mushrooms grow and develop • Could lead to improved mushroom varieties with better growing characteristics • Advances our knowledge of biological processes in fungi that could have applications in biotechnology • May help develop more efficient mushroom production methods for food industry

Background

S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent methyltransferases can transfer methyl groups from SAM to many biological molecules, playing crucial roles in processes like small molecule biosynthesis and methylation of DNA and protein. While research on SAM-dependent methyltransferases in fungi has mainly focused on secondary metabolite biosynthesis and genetic modification, their role in mushroom development remains largely unexplored.

Objective

To identify and characterize two novel SAM-dependent methyltransferase encoding genes (fvsmt1 and fvsmt2) from Flammulina velutipes and investigate their potential involvement in stipe elongation through bioinformatics analysis, substrate prediction, and expression pattern analysis during development.

Results

The analysis revealed fvsmt1 has 6 exons (978 bp total) encoding a 325 amino acid protein, while fvsmt2 has 4 exons (693 bp total) encoding a 230 amino acid protein. Both proteins contained SAM-dependent catalytic domains with signature motifs. Expression analysis showed both genes were developmentally regulated with maximum expression during stipe elongation, showing 18.21 and 8.77 fold higher expression compared to mycelia respectively. Expression levels in the fast elongation region were 2.46 and 9.11 times higher than in the slow elongation region for fvsmt1 and fvsmt2 respectively.

Conclusion

The study provides the first comprehensive characterization of two SAM-dependent methyltransferase encoding genes in F. velutipes. The results demonstrate that FVSMT1 and FVSMT2 are two distinct SAM-methyltransferases belonging to separate classes that are involved in fungal morphogenesis and development, particularly in stipe elongation.
  • Published in:Mycobiology,
  • Study Type:Molecular Biology Research,
  • Source: 10.1080/12298093.2019.1658332
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