TY  - JOUR
A1  - Adam, Alexander
A1  - Deimel, Stephan
A1  - Pardo-Medina, Javier
A1  - García-Martínez, Jorge
A1  - Konte, Tilen
A1  - Limón, M. Carmen
A1  - Avalos, Javier
A1  - Terpitz, Ulrich
T1  - Protein activity of the \(Fusarium\) \(fujikuroi\) rhodopsins CarO and OpsA and their relation to fungus−plant interaction
JF  - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
N2  - Fungi possess diverse photosensory proteins that allow them to perceive different light wavelengths and to adapt to changing light conditions in their environment. The biological and physiological roles of the green light-sensing rhodopsins in fungi are not yet resolved. The rice plant pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi exhibits two different rhodopsins, CarO and OpsA. CarO was previously characterized as a light-driven proton pump. We further analyzed the pumping behavior of CarO by patch-clamp experiments. Our data show that CarO pumping activity is strongly augmented in the presence of the plant hormone indole-3-acetic acid and in sodium acetate, in a dose-dependent manner under slightly acidic conditions. By contrast, under these and other tested conditions, the Neurospora rhodopsin (NR)-like rhodopsin OpsA did not exhibit any pump activity. Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) searches in the genomes of ascomycetes revealed the occurrence of rhodopsin-encoding genes mainly in phyto-associated or phytopathogenic fungi, suggesting a possible correlation of the presence of rhodopsins with fungal ecology. In accordance, rice plants infected with a CarO-deficient F. fujikuroi strain showed more severe bakanae symptoms than the reference strain, indicating a potential role of the CarO rhodopsin in the regulation of plant infection by this fungus.
KW  - fungal rhodopsins
KW  - CarO
KW  - OpsA
KW  - Fusarium fujikuroi
KW  - Oryza sativa
KW  - rice–plant infection
KW  - green light perception
KW  - indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)
KW  - bakanae
KW  - patch-clamp
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285125
SN  - 1422-0067
VL  - 19
IS  - 1
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - García-Martínez, Jorge
A1  - Brunk, Michael
A1  - Avalos, Javier
A1  - Terpitz, Ulrich
T1  - The CarO rhodopsin of the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is a light-driven proton pump that retards spore germination
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Rhodopsins are membrane-embedded photoreceptors found in all major taxonomic kingdoms using retinal as their chromophore. They play well-known functions in different biological systems, but their roles in fungi remain unknown. The filamentous fungus Fusarium fujikuroi contains two putative rhodopsins, CarO and OpsA. The gene carO is light-regulated, and the predicted polypeptide contains all conserved residues required for proton pumping. We aimed to elucidate the expression and cellular location of the fungal rhodopsin CarO, its presumed proton-pumping activity and the possible effect of such function on F. fujikuroi growth. In electrophysiology experiments we confirmed that CarO is a green-light driven proton pump. Visualization of fluorescent CarO-YFP expressed in F. fujikuroi under control of its native promoter revealed higher accumulation in spores (conidia) produced by light-exposed mycelia. Germination analyses of conidia from carO\(^{-}\) mutant and carO\(^{+}\) control strains showed a faster development of light-exposed carO-germlings. In conclusion, CarO is an active proton pump, abundant in light-formed conidia, whose activity slows down early hyphal development under light. Interestingly, CarO-related rhodopsins are typically found in plant-associated fungi, where green light dominates the phyllosphere. Our data provide the first reliable clue on a possible biological role of a fungal rhodopsin.
KW  - microbial rhodopsins
KW  - intracellular pH
KW  - membrane proteins
KW  - mutants
KW  - virulence
KW  - channelrhodopsin-2
KW  - growth
KW  - gene
KW  - expression
KW  - bacteriorhodopsin
Y1  - 2015
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-149049
VL  - 5
IS  - 7798
ER  -