Orientador: Maria Célia Bertolini / Resumo: Glicogênio representa um dos principais carboidratos de reserva em muitos organismos e seu metabolismo está sob o controle de um complexo mecanismo envolvendo o balanço de nutrientes e sinais ambientais. A proteína glicogenina constitui a molécula iniciadora do processo de síntese de glicogênio, sendo as etapas seguintes efetuadas pelas enzimas glicogênio sintase e enzima ramificadora. Glicogênio sintase é a enzima limitante no processo e é regulada alosterismo e fosforilação reversível. Neste trabalho foi realizada uma caracterização do metabolismo de glicogênio no fungo N. crassa enfocando as enzimas glicogenina, glicogênio sintase e glicogênio sintase quinase-3. A proteína glicogenina (GNN) foi caracterizada do ponto de vista molecular, bioquímico e funcional. O cDNA codificando para esta proteína foi isolado e a seqüência polipeptídica deduzida mostrou uma proteína de 664 aminoácidos, uma das maiores proteínas glicogenina já isoladas. A inativação do gene gnn resultou em uma linhagem mutante incapaz de acumular glicogênio. A produção da proteína GNN em E. coli resultou em um polipeptídeo altamente susceptível à proteólise e formas truncadas da proteína mostraram ser mais estáveis e igualmente ativas nos processos de auto- e trans-glicosilação, além de servirem de substrato para ação da glicogênio sintase. Tais formas também foram capazes de complementar funcionalmente mutantes de S. cerevisiae. Além disso, a expressão do gene gnn foi mostrado ser regulado durante crescimento vegetativo e deprivação de carbono. Os resíduos Tyr196 e Tyr198 foram identificados como os sítios de glicosilação, os quais contribuem diferencialmente para este processo. Análise das interações entre GNN e a proteína glicogênio sintase de N. crassa (GSN) demonstrou que a região C-terminal da GNN é a mais importante para a interação. Entretanto, o...(Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Glycogen represents one of the main reserve carbohydrates in many organisms and its metabolism is under control of a complex mechanism involving the balance of nutrients and environmental signals. The protein glycogenin is the initiator molecule in glycogen biogenesis and the subsequent steps are carried out by the enzymes glycogen synthase and branching enzyme. Glycogen synthase is the rate-limiting enzyme in the process and is regulated both by alosterism and reversible phosphorylation. In this work we performed a characterization of the glycogen metabolism in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, focusing on the enzymes glycogenin, glycogen synthase and glycogen synthase kinase-3. The protein glycogenin (GNN) was characterized under the molecular, biochemical and functional aspects. The cDNA encoding for this protein was isolated and the deduced polypeptide sequence showed a protein with 664 residues, one of the largest glycogenins isolated so far. The inactivation of the gnn gene rendered a mutant strain that was no longer able to accumulate glycogen. The production of GNN protein in E. coli cells resulted in a polypeptide highly susceptible towards proteolysis and truncated forms were more stable and equally active, judged by their abilities to self- and trans-glucosylate, and to serve as substrate for glycogen synthase elongation. These proteins were also able to recover the glycogen deficiency phenotype in a S. cerevisae mutant strain. Moreover, the gnn gene expression was shown to be ...(Complete abstract, click electronic access below) / Doutor

Orientador: Maria Célia Bertolini / Banca: Marcia Aparecida Silva Graminha / Banca: Marcos Roberto Mattos Fontes / Resumo: O fungo filamentoso Neurospora crassa é um organismo modelo muito utilizado para estudos de diversos aspectos da biologia dos eucariotos. Nosso laboratório tem utilizado este fungo para o estudo dos mecanismos moleculares e bioquímicos da regulação do metabolismo de glicogênio. A presente proposta de trabalho é uma consequência de experimentos anteriores realizados com o objetivo de identificar proteínas (fatores de transcrição ou não) que se ligam à região promotora do gene gsn, o qual codifica a enzima glicogênio sintase, regulatória do processo de síntese do carboidrato. Esses estudos combinaram experimentos de ensaios de retardamento em gel utilizando fragmentos do promotor gsn e proteínas do extrato total do fungo, acoplados à análise proteômica e identificação das proteínas por espectrometria de massas. Os experimentos resultaram na identificação de algumas proteínas do fungo, as quais podem ou não estar envolvidas na regulação da expressão do gene. Alguns estudos preliminares com estas proteínas foram anteriormente realizados no laboratório e apontaram um provável papel das mesmas na regulação do metabolismo do carboidrato em N. crassa. Duas dessas proteínas, as codificadas pelas ORFs NCU3482 e NCU06679 foram objeto de estudo neste trabalho. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi realizar a caracterização das linhagens mutantes nestas ORFs, além da produção e purificação das proteínas na forma recombinante. Foram realizadas análises morfológicas da linhagem mutante na ORF NCU06679, tais como: crescimento colonial e radial, crescimento linear e análise microscópica das extremidades das hifas. Esses experimentos foram realizados em comparação com a linhagem selvagem do fungo e, mostraram esta proteína está envolvida no processo de desenvolvimento do... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The fungus Neurospora crassa has been widely used as a model organism for fundamental aspects of eukaryotic biology. We have been studying the biochemical and molecular mechanisms involved in glycogen metabolism regulation in this fungus. The present work is a consequence of previous experiments performed in the laboratory to identify proteins that bind to the promoter region of the gsn gene which encodes glycogen synthase, the regulatory enzyme in glycogen synthesis. Previous studies were performed by using a combination of DNA gel shift assay coupled to proteomic analysis, followed by identification of proteins by mass spectrometry. The assays resulted in the identification of proteins likely involved in the regulation of gene expression. Preliminary studies with these proteins have previously been carried out and suggested that they might have a role in the regulation of glycogen metabolism in N. crassa. Two of them, the ORFs NCU3482 and NCU06679 gene products were object of study in this work. The main objective was to characterize the mutant strains in both proteins and to produce and purify the recombinant proteins. Morphological analyzes were performed in the ORF NCU06679 mutant strain such as colony and radial linear growth and microscopic examination of the ends of the hyphae. These experiments showed that this protein is involved in the fungus development since growth and ability to conidiate were deficient when compared to the wild-type strain. The expression of gsn and gpn (encodes glycogen phosphorylase, the regulatory enzyme in glycogen degradation) genes were analyzed by qPCR and the results showed differences in gene expression of both genes during vegetative growth of the NCU06679 mutant strain when compared to the wild-type strain. The protein encoded by ORF NCU06679 was produced as a recombinant protein and the purification... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

M.S. / Molecular Biology / Neurospora crassa arg-2 encodes the small subunit of Arg-specific carbamoyl phosphate synthetase and is negatively regulated by arginine. This regulation is mediated by a 24-codon upstream open reading frame (uORF). The sequence of this uORF is critical for Arg-specific regulation. Six mutated templates were used to examine which residues of the uORF are important for this regulation. Mutations were created using megaprimer PCR and a luciferase gene was used as a reporter in the in vitro translation studies. Mutations of Asp 12, Asp 16, and Ser 10 eliminate Arg-specific regulation. Leaky scanning is thought to be involved, and a hypothetical ribosome stalling model that mediates Arg-specific attenuation of translation is proposed.

MAP kinases and transcription factors homologous to Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fus3p/Kss1p and Ste12p have been identified in several plant pathogenic fungi and found to be required for pathogenicity and sexual reproduction. A gene encoding the homolog of Fus3p/Kss1p in Neurospora crassa was isolated previously and named mak- 2 (mitogen activated kinase -2). This dissertation describes the isolation of the Ste12p homolog, pp-1 (protoperithecia-1) and the comparison of the phenotypes of the mak-2 and pp-1 mutants. The similar phenotypes of the mak-2 and pp-1 null mutants suggest that these proteins are part of the same MAP kinase signaling cascade in N. crassa. In addition to reduced growth rate, the phenotypes of the mutants demonstrate that this pathway is required for female fertility, contributes to aerial hyphal development and repression of conidiophore development. The mak-2 MAP kinase pathway also regulates several genes putatively involved in secondary metabolism during the mating process. Among these is a gene cluster that is likely to be involved in the production of a polyketide secondary metabolite. An orthologous gene cluster was also identified in M. grisea, and the structural and functional homology of these two related gene clusters was characterized. Microarray analysis was used to extend the analysis of gene expression in mak-2 and pp-1 mutants, and a number of downstream target genes of the MAP kinase pathway were identified and called mak-2 kinase-regulated genes (mkr). A model of this MAP kinase pathway in N. crassa was developed. Since N. crassa is a saprophytic fungus but closely related to several plant pathogens, this research may provide an important perspective on the evolution of a major regulatory pathway governing fungal pathogenesis.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-174). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-228). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1970. / Title from title page screen, viewed Sept. 3, 2004. Dissertation Committee: H.E. Brockman (chair), D.D. Pittman, W. Daniel, D. Weber, E.R. Willis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-96) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1976. / Title from title page screen, viewed Dec. 7, 2004. Dissertation Committee: H.E. Brockman (chair), M. Neville, A. Richardson, F. Schwalm, D. Weber. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-138) and abstract. Also available in print.