DNA affinity purification sequencing and transcriptional profiling reveal new aspects of nitrogen regulation in a filamentous fungus
Lori B. Huberman, Vincent W. Wu, David Kowbel, Juna Lee, Chris Daum, Igor V. Grigoriev, Ronan C. O’Malley, N. Louise Glass
Abstract
Significance Microorganisms have evolved transcriptional networks to prioritize utilization of available nutrient sources. For filamentous fungi, such as Neurospora crassa , this entails distinguishing between a variety of organic and inorganic nitrogen sources. Here, we transcriptionally profiled the response of N. crassa to a variety of nitrogen sources and used DNA affinity purification sequencing to characterize the role of regulatory genes and their direct downstream targets. We identified a transcription factor responsible for regulating genes involved in amino acid and mannose metabolism. By comparing the genes regulated by transcription factors that regulate specific nitrogen utilization pathways and transcription factors that regulate utilization of all nitrogen sources that require metabolic processing before utilization, we revealed aspects of the nitrogen regulatory network.