Son Ye-Eun, Kim Kyu-Hyun, Cho He-Jin, Yu Jae-Hyuk, Park Hee-Soo
School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.
Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
mSphere. 2025 Jul 29;10(7):e0025425. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00254-25. Epub 2025 Jun 10.
The zinc cluster family is the largest group of transcription factors involved in regulating fungal growth, morphology, and differentiation in species. In this study, we investigated hyphae-specific zinc cluster transcription factors and characterized a novel hyphae-specific CysHis zinc finger transcription factor, designated HscA, in the model fungus and the toxigenic fungus . Phenotypic analyses demonstrated that HscA is essential for normal asexual and sexual development in and . Deletion of resulted in elevated sensitivity to cell wall stress agents and an ion depletion stressor. Moreover, the null mutant exhibited decreased production of sterigmatocystin in and aflatoxin B1 in . Conidial production in the kernel was decreased in the Δ strain compared to the control in . Overall, these results suggest that HscA plays a pivotal role in fungal development, stress tolerance, and mycotoxin production in species.
Fungal growth and development are closely regulated by a variety of transcription factors. This study identified and characterized a hyphae-specific CysHis zinc finger transcription factor in two species. HscA contains a CysHis zinc finger domain and plays a crucial role in appropriate fungal development in and . Particularly, HscA is involved in stress tolerance in both hyphal and conidial stages. We further demonstrated that HscA acts as a positive regulator of sterigmatocystin production in and is essential for proper aflatoxin B1 production in . Additionally, our findings indicate that HscA is crucial for conidial formation in kernel assays, implying that HscA may function as a virulence factor. Overall, these findings enhance our understanding of mycotoxin production and fungal pathogenicity in species.
锌簇家族是参与调节真菌生长、形态和分化的最大转录因子群体。在本研究中，我们调查了菌丝特异性锌簇转录因子，并在模式真菌和产毒真菌中鉴定了一种新型的菌丝特异性CysHis锌指转录因子，命名为HscA。表型分析表明，HscA对和中的正常无性和有性发育至关重要。的缺失导致对细胞壁应激剂和离子耗竭应激源的敏感性升高。此外，缺失突变体在中展青霉素的产量降低，在中黄曲霉毒素B1的产量降低。与中的对照相比，Δ菌株在籽粒中的分生孢子产量降低。总体而言，这些结果表明HscA在真菌发育、胁迫耐受性和物种中的霉菌毒素产生中起关键作用。
真菌的生长和发育受到多种转录因子的密切调控。本研究在两种物种中鉴定并表征了一种菌丝特异性CysHis锌指转录因子。HscA含有一个CysHis锌指结构域，在和的适当真菌发育中起关键作用。特别是，HscA在菌丝和分生孢子阶段都参与胁迫耐受性。我们进一步证明，HscA在中作为展青霉素产生的正调控因子，对中黄曲霉毒素B1的正常产生至关重要。此外，我们的研究结果表明，HscA在籽粒试验中对分生孢子形成至关重要，这意味着HscA可能作为一种毒力因子发挥作用。总体而言，这些发现增强了我们对物种中霉菌毒素产生和真菌致病性的理解。
