Fungal gene switch unlocks tough plant fiber for decomposition
Gonzalez Ramos VM, Lipzen A, Hundley H, Ng V, Grigoriev IV
Crispr
The soft, crumbly wood you find on a fallen log during a forest walk is the work of enzyme switches like this one, and understanding them could help engineer fungi that turn yard waste and crop residue into useful products instead of landfill bulk.
Wood is tough to digest because it's packed with different types of fiber, including mannan, a sugar-rich material found in things like guar gum and certain tree cell walls. Researchers found a gene in a white-rot fungus that works like a control switch: when the fungus senses mannose-rich material nearby, this gene flips on the production of enzymes needed to break it down. The gene has an odd structure never seen in this role before, and it only shows up in fungi that rot wood or live closely with plants, suggesting it evolved as a specialized tool for that lifestyle.
Key Findings
The Bhr1 gene combines two unusual protein parts (a septin-like NTPase fold and Zn(II)2Cys6 DNA-binding domains) never before linked to this function
CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing showed that disrupting bhr1 changed fungal growth and enzyme activity specifically on mannose and guar gum, not other substrates
Bhr1 turns on hemicellulase-producing genes without affecting sugar transporter or metabolism genes, and it's found only in wood-decaying and plant-associated basidiomycete fungi, not in ascomycetes
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists identified a gene called Bhr1 in a wood-rotting fungus that acts as a master switch, turning on the enzymes the fungus needs to break down mannose-rich plant fibers found in wood and seeds.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
The novel transcriptional activator Bhr1 combining NTPase and Zn(II)2Cys6 DNA-binding domains controls (hemi-)cellulase response to mannose-rich substrates in the white-rot fungus Dichomitus squalens.
The regulatory landscape responsible for lignocellulose degradation in white-rot basidiomycete fungi remains largely unexplored. In this study, we characterize a novel transcriptional activator, Bh...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Gene editing removes 97% of celiac-triggering proteins from bread wheat
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Soil health is the capacity of soil to function as a living ecosystem, supporting complex interactions between microorganisms, soil fauna, and plant communities. For plant science, soil health is critical because these biological and chemical soil properties directly control nutrient availability,
arrow_forward Explore topic