A proteomic approach for the identification of proteins related to stress tolerance in conidia of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum

• Grant number: 13/02486-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Gilberto Úbida Leite Braga
• Grantee: Guilherme Thomaz Pereira Brancini
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Conidia are specialized structures produced by many fungal species at a late developmental stage. Conidia are important for reproduction, dispersion and environmental persistence. For the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium spp, conidia are also responsible for host recognition and infection. Despite their importance, many aspects of conidial biology, including their proteomes, remain poorly known. Variations in physical (temperature, light) and/or chemical factors (substrate, pH) during fungal development may alter important characteristics of the conidia, for example, virulence and stress tolerance. It is known that light is a stimulus capable of increasing stress tolerance in Metarhizium spp. Our research group has already estabilished comparative proteome maps for the conidia and mycelium of M. acridum, employing two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF). These maps will be important to determine the effects of the environment on the conidial proteome. The main goals of this study is to compare the proteomes of conidia produced by colonies that grew in the presence to that grown in the absence of light and to identify proteins that may be related to stress tolerance against environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation and temperature.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PEREIRA BRANCINI, GUILHERME THOMAZ; RODRIGUES, GABRIELA BRAGA; LIMA RAMBALDI, MARIANA DE SOUZA; IZUMI, CLARICE; YATSUDA, ANA PATRICIA; WAINWRIGHT, MARK; ROSA, JOSE CESAR; LEITE BRAGA, GILBERTO UBIDA. The effects of photodynamic treatment with new methylene blue N on the Candida albicans proteome. PHOTOCHEMICAL & PHOTOBIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, v. 15, n. 12, p. 1503-1513, 2016. (12/15204-8, 13/02486-8)

BRANCINI, GUILHERME T. P.; RANGEL, DRAUZIO E. N.; BRAGA, GILBERTO U. L.. Exposure of Metarhizium acridum mycelium to light induces tolerance to UV-B radiation. FEMS Microbiology Letters, v. 363, n. 6, MAR 2016. (13/02486-8, 12/15204-8, 10/06374-1, 13/50518-6)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

BRANCINI, Guilherme Thomaz Pereira. Proteomic approaches to studying fungal photobiology and photoinactivation. 2015. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC) Ribeirão Preto.