C1/2 Intro And Mycoses Flashcards
Give some examples of fungi
Yeast, mushroom, moulds
What does heterotrophic mean
External digestion
They secrete enzymes breaking down organic material to feed on
Explain the use of fungi in biotech for isobutanol
Sach cerevisiae easily manipulated and can clone bacterial genes into it in media and grow on media to isolate isobutanol used for other chemicals or fuels
Fungi are often saprophytes. What does this mean
They live on dead material
What 3 relationships can they have with others
Parasitic (eg blastocystis)
Commensal - candida Al
Symbiotic relationship eg lichens live with Cyanobacteria
What is yeast morphology and give 3 model organism examples
Oval/round shape
Single cell
Haploid or diploid if it mates with MATa for example with MATalpha
Candida , s cerevisiae or cryptococcus neoformans
How do they divide
By budding (from mother cell)
What morphology do most fungi take which isn’t single cell and give characteristics
Filamentous
Either septated or aseptate
Also haploid or diploid or dikaryote
What are dikaryote
When they’ve mated but nucleus hasn’t fused
Most are dimorphic eg yeast to hyphae for candida for virulence. In response to what sorts of things can they change morphology to eg pseudohyphae or hyphae
Temp,co2, nutrients,ph
Explain how in nitrogen limiting sacharomyces cerevisiae can form paeudohyphae cells
Low N source causes lack of daughter budding off, instead the budding cells form long chains and no longer oval
elongating at one side moving away from the site of low N source in hopes to find more sources
Why would this happen
N can’t support rapid budding anymore
How does ceyptococcus (usually yeast) otoh respond to LOW nh4 aswell to form filaments (2 potential reasons why)
In low ammonia only it will filament if they mate with opposite group ie mata and matalpha (in replete revert back to yeast cells)
Form diploid filaments
Reason 1- filaments might be moving away to find more nitrogen
Reason 2- forming spores when diploid organisms form which are stress resistant
Why would spores form
Resistant to environmental stress
Filaments will start to form aerial hyphae and also basidium where spores form
What other things can they Sense to allow change from yeast and how
Sucrose, glucose , fructose
Have transporters eg mep2 for nitrogen which sense how much is coming in from host metabolism
Explain the evolution of receptors in yeast
Some will act act both transporters and signal inducers intracellularly
Some will only bind ligand and produce signal but no transport occurs
What senses ammonia in yeast
Mep2 transporter and signalling inducer (2 diff functions)
What does signalling in low ammonia allow through mep2 (not present in mutants)
Filamentation
What is suggested of the mechanism that brings about this change
A conformational change like in gpcr
Where usually pore closed and the CTD away from it
In these conditions brings CTD closer by phosphorylation and opens pore for nh4 signalling and transport
How can asexual division occur (many ways)
Cell divides into daughter cells and formation of new cell wall around
Eg budding or fragmentation
Or
can asexually undergo spore production (conidia are asexual spores)
Sexual reproduction can also occur through Union of compatible nucleus/fusion of haploid hyphae. What types of spores
Ascospores (form in the ascus)
Basidospores (form in the basidia)
Zygospores
Give examples of ascomycetes phylum and basidiomycetes
Candida, yeast, aspergillus
Basidia = cryptococcus
Explain both haploid and diploid life cycles/ vision (example of yeast/ascomycetes)
Haploid cell can undergo haploid life cycle of budding (asexually)
Or can mate with other MAT type to
Form a diploid a/alpha zygote with fused nucleus
Which can either undergo diploid cell cycle of budding OR Can undergo meiosis
THIS MEIOSIS FORMS 4 haploid spores (2a 2alpha) combine within an ascus eg under low nutrients
Can then germinate/release and mate with others again as haploid
How is it different in basidiomycetes like c neoformans
spores will form outside of basidium after meiosis
Explain the sexual reproduction of cryptococcus neoformans
Haploid yeast with fuse of diff mat types
To form hyphal dikaryons (where nucleus hasn’t fused yet)
Basidium formation and nuclei fusion will then occur
Can undergo meiosis after nuclei fusion, allowing sporulation process and then germination releasing haploids
Can some ceyptoccus unisexually mate (without need of 2 cells to diff mating types and form monokaryon) - homothallic monokaryotic fruiting
Yes
What carries the genes for mating (sequence determines type)
The mat locus
How many copies of mat and mat alpha loci do you have
2 but one of each is silenced by chromatin
What happens when spores germinate to determine mat a or mat alpha / switch In homothallic mating (cells capable of self fertilisation) - this is not present in heterophallic mating where need 2 compatible mycelia
Germinate, undergo 1 round of replication and produce an endonuclease which can cleave mat locus allowing a gene conversion event
Eg 1 cell mat a will give rise to both mat a and mat alpha for mating
(Only in homothallic yeast eg cryptococcus are able to do this)
What do 2 cells mating (heterothallic outcrossing between compatible mycelia) produce sensed by the other gpcr
Alpha and a-factor pheromones which bind gpcr and allow protrusions to fuse the cells
What does binding of this to gpcr do
Activate signaling proteins within a ste5 scaffold needed to stop cell cycle and this allows production of protrusions called shmoo which then interact with eachother for fusion
What are the only 2 things separating other euk cells from fungi
Cell wall and polysaccharide capsule