Chromosomal mapping of an alcC disruption with respect to amdA in Aspergillus nidulans

Ethanol catabolism in Aspergillus nidulans: a model system for studying gene regulation

This article reviews our knowledge of the ethanol utilization pathway (alc system) in the hyphal fungus Aspergillus nidulans. We discuss the progress made over the past decade in elucidating the two regulatory circuits controlling ethanol catabolism at the level of transcription, specific induction, and carbon catabolite repression, and show how their interplay modulates the utilization of nutrient carbon sources. The mechanisms featuring in this regulation are presented and their modes of action are discussed: First, AlcR, the transcriptional activator, which demonstrates quite remarkable structural features and an original mode of action; second, the physiological inducer acetaldehyde, whose intracellular accumulation induces the alc genes and thereby a catabolic flux while avoiding intoxification; third, CreA, the transcriptional repressor mediating carbon catabolite repression in A. nidulans, which acts in different ways on the various alc genes; Fourth, the promoters of the structural genes for alcohol dehydrogenase (alcA) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (aldA) and the regulatory alcR gene, which exhibit exceptional strength compared to other genes of the respective classes. alc gene expression depends on the number and localization of regulatory cis-acting elements and on the particular interaction between the two regulator proteins, AlcR and CreA, binding to them. All these characteristics make the ethanol regulon a suitable system for induced expression of heterologous protein in filamentous fungi.

The positively acting amdA gene of Aspergillus nidulans encodes a protein with two C2H2 zinc-finger motifs

Semi-dominant mutations in the amdA gene lead to elevated expression of the gene encoding acetamidase, amdS. These mutations also cause constitutive expression of the acetate-inducible gene, aciA. In the amdS 5' regulatory region, two cis-acting mutations, amdl66 and amdl666, have been isolated which specifically affect amdA activation of amdS. These mutations are a duplication and a triplication of an 18 bp GA-rich sequence, thought to define the amdA site of action within the amdS promoter region. Similar GA-rich sequences have also been found in the 5' region of aciA. This paper describes the cloning and initial functional characterization of the amdA gene and two of its mutant alleles. The wild-type amdA gene has been cloned by a chromosome walk from genes gatA and alcC on linkage group VII and localized by complementation of an amdA loss-of-function mutation. Transcriptional analysis reveals that the gene is expressed constitutively at low levels under growth conditions which affect expression of amdS and aciA. The gene is predicted to encode an 880-amino-acid protein which contains two C2H2 zinc fingers, a nuclear localization sequence and two transcriptional activation domains. The amdA7 semi-dominant gain-of-function mutation results in a glycine to aspartate substitution which would increase the acidity of one of these regions. Analysis of in vitro generated mutations in the 5' region of amdS using an amdS::lacZ reporter has been used to localize the site of action of AmdA. The C2H2 zinc-finger motifs identified in the protein are similar to those found in the carbon catabolite repressor protein, CreA, which also regulates amdS and recognizes sequences which overlap with the proposed site of action for AmdA.

Alcohol dehydrogenase III in Aspergillus nidulans is anaerobically induced and post-transcriptionally regulated

An alcohol dehydrogenase was shown to be induced in Aspergillus nidulans by periods of anaerobic stress. This alcohol dehydrogenase was shown to correspond to the previously described cryptic enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase III (McKnight et al. 1985), by analysis of a mutation in the structural gene of alcohol dehydrogenase III, alcC, created by gene disruption. Survival tests on agar plates showed that this enzyme is required for long-term survival under anaerobic conditions. Northern blot analysis and gene fusion studies showed that the expression of the alcC gene is regulated at both the transcriptional and translational levels. Thus there are mechanisms in this filamentous fungus allowing survival under anaerobic stress that are similar to those described in higher plants.

The identification of mutations in Aspergillus nidulans that lead to increased levels of ADHII

There are at least three alcohol dehydrogenases in Aspergillus nidulans. ADHII has been observed in polyacrylamide gels stained for ADH activity but, unlike ADHI and ADHIII, no physiological function has been attributed to it. This paper describes mutations that have been isolated from strains carrying a deletion in the structural gene for ADHI (alcA) and its adjacent positively-acting regulatory gene (alcR) that restore some ability to utilise ethanol as a carbon source. The mutations map at three loci, and all show elevated levels of the ADHII staining band. An assay for ADHII has been developed. The growth on ethanol has been shown to be dependent on the previously identified aldehyde dehydrogenase (structural gene, aldA). Two of the mutations, alcD and alcE, represent newly discovered mutations affecting ethanol utilisation, while the third mutation is in amdA, a previously described trans-acting regulatory protein.