Fruiting bodies of Schizophyllum commune.
The spread of the white rot fungus Schizophyllum commune via spores is tightly linked with its sexual reproduction cycle. Thus, genes of the mating type loci are being researched which encode transcription factors on the one hand, and pheromones and a pheromone receptor system of 7 transmembrane domain family receptors on the other hand. The receptors can discriminate between at least 20 different ligands to control the recognition between self and non-self. In response to a pheromone of a suitable mating partner, intracellular, Ras-dependent signal transduction leads to the induction of dynein-dependent nuclear migration. Beyond the pheromone receptors, four related proteins were attributed to possess functions in filamentous growth and mating. This thesis is supported by the demonstrated localization of the proteins in the hyphal tips, at the septae and non-fused clamp cells. The membrane-located processes were investigated with respect to the involvement of lipid rafts in the fungal membrane.
Besides research on the sexual development, studies were performed on the involvement of S. commune in the weathering of rocks and wood and interactions with other fungi and bacteria. In microbiome analyses, further saprotrophic fungi and bacteria are regularly detected, whose signal exchange with S. commune is also studied. Sesquiterpenes were found being relevant as signaling molecules in the defense of growth resources. For that, an interaction model system with the dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymans as well as with bacteria as Bacillus subtilis und streptomycetes is applied. Herewith, close physical contacts between bacteria and fungi and the direct competition of the fungi are shown.
Under unfavorable conditions such as metal stress, signals must be received and transmitted intracellularly. Thereby, the involvement of phosphatidylinositol and inositolphosphate was shown. Therefore, an integrative model was established embedding the inositol signal transduction in known signaling pathways, GPCR and cAMP mediated pathways and summarizing their roles for the development of the fungus. The transport of heavy metal ions through the hyphae could be used for bioremediation of large and heterogeneously contaminated sites.
Colleagues in these projects:
Dr. Katrin Krause, Dr. Lea Traxler, M.Sc. Nina Carl, M.Sc. Maximilian Herold, M.Sc. Evans Osahon Iyamu, M.Sc. Robert Jesse, M.Sc. Berit Porsche.
Alumni: Dr. Melanie Brunsch, Dr. Susann Erdmann, Dr. Daniela Freihorst, Dr. Susanne Gola, Dr. Elke-Martina Jung, Dr. Julia Kirtzel, Dr. Nicole Knabe, Dr. Soumya Madhavan, Dr. Riya C. Mezenes, Dr. Reyna Murry, M.Sc. Jessica Pötschner, Dipl.-Biol. Daniela Schubert, Dr. Sophia Wirth, M.Sc. Susanne Steiniger.
Most important publications:
Traxler L, Shrestha J, Richter M, Krause K, Schäfer T, Kothe E (2022) Metal transport in hyphae of the basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 425,
2022:127978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127978
Murry R, Pötschner J, Traxler L, Krüger T, Kniemeyer O, Krause K, Kothe E. (2021) Inositol signaling in the basidiomycete fungus Schizophyllum commune. Journal of Fungi 7, 470. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7060470.
Wirth S, Freihorst D, Krause K, Kothe E (2021) What role might non-mating receptors play in Schizophyllum commune? Journal of Fungi 7(5):399. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7050399.
Traxler L, Wollenberg A, Steinhauser G, Chyzhevskyi I, Dubchak S, Grossmann S, Gunther A, Gupta DK, Iwannek KH, Kirieiev S, Lehmann F, Schulz W, Walther C, Raff J, Kothe, E (2021) Survival of the basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune in soil under hostile environmental conditions in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Journal of Hazardous Materials 403, 124002 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124002.
Wirth S, Krause K, Kunert M, Broska S, Paetz C, Boland W, Kothe E (2021). Function of sesquiterpenes from Schizophyllum commune in interspecific interactions. PLoS ONE 16(1): e0245623. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245623.
Krause K, Jung E-M, Lindner J, Hardiman I, Poetschner J, Madhavan S, Matthäus C, Kai M, Menezes RC, Popp J, Svatoš A, Kothe E. (2020). Response of the white rot fungus Schizophyllum commune to co-occurring microorganisms. PLoS ONE 15(4): e0232145. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232145.
Murry R, Kniemeyer O, Krause K, Saiardi A, Kothe E (2019). Crosstalk between Ras and inositol phosphate signaling revealed by lithium action on inositol monophosphatase in Schizophyllum commune, Adv Biol Regul 72, 78-88. 10.1016/j.jbior.2019.01.001.
Kirtzel J, Ueberschaar N, Deckert-Gaudig T, Krause K, Deckert V, Gadd GM, Kothe E. (2019). Organic acids, siderophores, enzymes and mechanical pressure for black slate bioweathering with the basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune. Environ Microbiol doi:10.1111/1462-2920.14749.
Jung EM, Kothe E, Raudaskoski M. (2018). The making of a mushroom: Mitosis, nuclear migration and the actin network. Fungal Genet Biol 111, 85-91. doi: 10.1016/j.fgb.2017.11.001.
Kirtzel J, Madhavan S, Wielsch N, Blinne A, Hupfer Y, Linde J, Krause K, Svatoš A and Kothe E (2018). Enzymatic bioweathering and metal mobilization from black slate by the basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune. Front Microbiol 9, 2545. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02545.
Kirtzel J, Scherwietes EL, Merten D, Krause K, Kothe E (2018). Metal release and sequestration from black slate mediated by a laccase of Schizophyllum commune. Environ Sci Pollut Res doi: 10.1007/s11356-018-2568-z [Epub ahead of print].
Wirth S, Kunert M, Ahrens L-M, Krause K, Broska S, Paetz C, Kniemeyer O, Jung E-M, Boland W, Kothe.E (2018). The regulator of G-protein signaling Thn1 links pheromone response to volatile production in Schizophyllum commune. Environ Microbiol 20, 3684-3699.
Freihorst D, Brunsch M, Wirth S, Krause K, Kniemeyer O, Linde J, Kunert M, Boland W, Kothe E (2016). Smelling the difference: Regulating transcriptome, proteome and volatilome changes after mating. Fungal Genet Biol. FGB-16-154R2. DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2016.08.007.
Brunsch M, Schubert D, Gube M, Ring C, Hanisch L, Linde J, Krause K, Kothe E. (2015). Dynein heavy chain, encoded by two genes in agaricomycetes, is required for nuclear migration in Schizophyllum commune. PLoS One e0135616.
Menezes RC, Kai M, Krause K, Matthäus C, Svatoš A, Popp J, Kothe E. (2015). Monitoring metabolites from Schizophyllum commune interacting with Hypholoma fasciculare combining LESA-HR mass spectrometry and Raman microscopy. Anal Bioanal Chem 407, 2273-2282.
Freihorst D, Fowler TJ, Bartholomew K, Raudaskoski M, Horton S, Kothe E. (2015). The mating type genes of the basidioymcetes. In: Wendland J, Esser K (eds) The Mycota. Springer, Heidelberg. In press.
Madhavan S, Krause K, Jung E-M, Kothe E. (2014). Differential regulation of multi-copper oxidases in Schizophyllum commune during sexual development Mycol Progr 13, 1199-1206.
Knabe N, Jung E-M, Freihorst D, Hennicke F, Horton S, Kothe E. (2013). A central role for Ras1 in morphogenesis of the basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune. Euk Cell 12, 941-952.