Functional characterization of N. crassa FLB-3 transcription factor

• Grant number: 15/09735-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2015
• End date: September 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Celia Bertolini
• Grantee: Daniela Luz Ambrósio Breisch
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/24705-3 - The filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa as a model organism for the functional characterization of proteins/transcription factors that regulate the carbohydrate metabolism, AP.TEM

Abstract

The FlbC transcription factor was described, initially, in A. nidulans as a regulatory protein of the asexual development, triggering the process of conidiation through the activation of a cascade of genes and, so far, it has not been fully characterized at the functional level in other filamentous fungi. Previous results obtained with the fungi N. crassa showed that the FlbC ortholog protein called FLB- 3, regulates sexual and asexual development of the fungus and also participates in the metabolic regulation of glycogen and trehalose reserve carbohydrates. In N. crassa, some genes that participate in the conidiation cascade described for A. nidulans were not identified, suggesting an alternative mechanism of downstream regulation for this transcription factor. Considering the results previously obtained with this transcription factor, the main objective of this project is to conduct a more comprehensive functional characterization using specific methodologies for this purpose. (AU)