Functional analysis of STRIPAK complex components in the filamentous ascomycete Sordaria macrospora
by Eva, Johanna Reschka
Date of Examination:2017-10-18
Date of issue:2018-08-09
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Stefanie Pöggeler
Referee:Prof. Dr. Gerhard Braus
Referee:Prof. Dr. Henning Urlaub
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Abstract
English
The striatin-interacting phosphatase and kinase (STRIPAK) complex is conserved in fungi and animals. The STRIPAK in the filamentous ascomycete Sordaria macrospora, was previously found to be essential for hyphal fusion and fruiting-body development. STRIPAK orthologs in S. macrospora are PRO11 (striatin), PRO22 (STRIP1/2), PRO45 (SLMAP), the serine-threonine phosphatase scaffolding subunit PP2AA and the catalytic subunit SmPP2Ac1 as well as the kinase activator SmMOB3. In this study, PRO11 and SmMOB3 pull-down coupled to liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC/MS) was performed and the LC/MS data was analyzed for putative interaction partners. Among, others an uncharacterized protein was identified as putative PRO11 interaction partner with very high confidence. The uncharacterized protein was named STRIPAK complex interactor 1 (SCI1). SCI1 is an ortholog of small coiled-coil (CC) domain(s) containing proteins found in STRIPAK complexes of yeasts, the fruit fly and mammals. Small CC proteins were discovered in the STRIPAK of Homo sapiens, Drosophila melanogaster, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, but their function in the individual STRIPAK complexes is hardly investigated. This study gives insights into the function of the small CC protein SCI1. The STRIPAK complex was also described in other filamentous fungi and this work shows that SCI proteins are conserved in filamentous ascomycetes. The sci1 gene is expressed during early developmental stages. Like other STRIPAK genes, sci1 is required for cell to cell fusion and sexual development in S. macrospora. Using yeast two-hybrid experiments oligomerization of SCI1, and direct interaction of SCI1 with PRO11 and PRO45 was shown. In fluorescence microcopy, fluorophore-tagged SCI1 and PRO11 fusion proteins showed that SCI1 colocalizes with PRO11 to the nuclear envelope. Additionally, proteins enriched in SCI1eGFP pull-downs were identified with LC/MS and PRO11 was highly enriched. Morphology of nuclei, the ER and mitochondria appeared normal in the S. macrospora sci1 deletion mutant in comparison to the wild type (wt). Also, actin polymerization in vegetative hyphae was similar. However, studies with eGFP-tagged reporter proteins of early and late endosomes of Zymoseptoria tritici, Rab5 and Rab7 respectively, in the S. macrospora sci1 deletion background strongly indicate a defect in vesicle and vacuolar transport. In this study SCI1 was also connected to the Golgi and might be important for vesicle or vacuole transport along microtubules. This is the first study, showing that SCI1 represents a component of the STRIPAK complex in S. macrospora. The results indicate that SCI1 and the STRIPAK complex are involved in fundamental processes in eukaryotic cells such as transport of vesicles and long distance transport. These processes are important for sexual development, cell fusion and give insights into normal cell function in fungi and animals.
Keywords: Sordaria macrospora; striatin; fruiting body development; cell fusion; SCI1