Functional characterization of the hypothetical ORF NCU01629 from the fungus Neurospora crassa

• Grant number: 13/21876-1
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Maria Celia Bertolini
• Grantee: Kely Braga Imamura
• Home Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The genomes sequencing has allowed performing studies concerning the regulatory processes that exist in different organisms. The fungus Neurospora crassa is a well-known microorganism due to its genetics and biochemical characteristics. Its genome was sequenced by Galagan et al. (2003) and more recent analysis revealed that only 40% of the genes codify for known proteins. Thus, N. crassa is a promissing model organism to identify proteins with new biological functions. The stablishment of a methodology to obtain knockout strains has allowed the construction of a set of mutant strains in specific genes, which has been available by the Fungal Genetics Stock Center (FGSC, Kansas City, Missouri, USA). A collection of mutant strains in genes encoding transcription factors (Colot et al., 2006) was screened, in our laboratory, to search for transcription factors regulating glycogen metabolism under normal growth temperature and under heat stress condition. Many proteins were identified and among them the ORF NCU01629 product, annotated as a hypothetical protein in the fungus database. Preliminary results about the functional characterization of the protein (Corrocher (2012) showed that the expression of the gene encoding glycogen synthase (gsn), the regulatory enzyme in glycogen synthesis, in the knockout strain was different from the wild-type strain suggesting that the transcription factor may control glycogen metabolism by regulating gene expression. More recently, Dr. L. Larrondo (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) group identified the DNA-binding motif of the transcription factor and this data allows a deep investigation of the functional role of this transcription factor and thus to establish a biological function to this hypothetical protein.

Academic Publications

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

IMAMURA, Kely Braga. Caracterização funcional de um fator de transcrição hipotético no fungo Neurospora crassa. 2015. 107 f. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" Instituto de Química..