Cell death occurs in all domains of life. While some cells die in an uncontrolled way due to exposure to external cues, other cells die in a regulated manner as part of a genetically encoded developmental program. Like other eukaryotic species, fungi undergo programmed cell death (PCD) in response to various triggers. For example, exposure to external stress conditions can activate PCD pathways in fungi. Calcium redistribution between the extracellular space, the cytoplasm and intracellular storage organelles appears to be pivotal for this kind of cell death. PCD is also part of the fungal life cycle, in which it occurs during sexual and asexual reproduction, aging, and as part of development associated with infection in phytopathogenic fungi. Additionally, a fungal non-self-recognition mechanism termed heterokaryon incompatibility (HI) also involves PCD. Some of the molecular players mediating PCD during HI show remarkable similarities to major constituents involved in innate immunity in metazoans and plants. In this review we discuss recent research on fungal PCD mechanisms in comparison to more characterized mechanisms in metazoans. We highlight the role of PCD in fungi in response to exogenic compounds, fungal development and non-self-recognition processes and discuss identified intracellular signaling pathways and molecules that regulate fungal PCD.

The existence of specific respiratory supercomplexes in mitochondria of most organisms has gained much momentum. However, its functional significance is still poorly understood. The availability of many deletion mutants in complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) of Neurospora crassa, distinctly affected in the assembly process, offers unique opportunities to analyze the biogenesis of respiratory supercomplexes. Herein, we describe the role of complex I in assembly of respiratory complexes and supercomplexes as suggested by blue and colorless native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry analyses of mildly solubilized mitochondria from the wild type and eight deletion mutants.As an important refinement of the fungal respirasome model, we found that the standard respiratory chain of N. crassa comprises putative complex I dimers in addition to I-III-IV and III-IV supercomplexes. Three Neurospora mutants able to assemble a complete complex I, lacking only the disrupted subunit, have respiratory supercomplexes, in particular I-III-IV supercomplexes and complex I dimers, like the wild-type strain. Furthermore, we were able to detect the I-III-IV supercomplexes in the nuo51 mutant with no overall enzymatic activity, representing the first example of inactive respirasomes. In addition, III-IV supercomplexes were also present in strains lacking an assembled complex I, namely, in four membrane arm subunit mutants as well as in the peripheral arm nuo30.4 mutant. In membrane arm mutants, high-molecular-mass species of the 30.4-kDa peripheral arm subunit comigrating with III-IV supercomplexes and/or the prohibitin complex were detected. The data presented herein suggest that the biogenesis of complex I is linked with its assembly into supercomplexes.

The respiratory chain of the mitochondrial inner membrane includes a proton-pumping enzyme, complex I, which catalyses electron transfer from NADH to ubiquinone. This electron pathway occurs through a series of protein-bound prosthetic groups, FMN and around eight iron-sulfur clusters. The high number of polypeptide subunits of mitochondrial complex I, around 40, have a dual genetic origin. Neurospora crassa has been a useful genetic model to characterise complex I. The characterisation of mutants in specific proteins helped to understand the elaborate processes of the biogenesis, structure and function of the oligomeric enzyme. In the fungus, complex I seems to be dispensable for vegetative growth but required for sexual development. N. crassa mitochondria also contain three to four nonproton-pumping alternative NAD(P)H dehydrogenases. One of them is located in the outer face of the inner mitochondrial membrane, working as a calcium-dependent oxidase of cytosolic NADPH.

We have inactivated the nuclear gene coding for a putative NAD(P)H dehydrogenase from the inner membrane of Neurospora crassa mitochondria by repeat-induced point mutations. The respiratory rates of mitochondria from the resulting mutant (nde-1) were measured, using NADH or NADPH as substrates under different assay conditions. The results showed that the mutant lacks an external calcium-dependent NADPH dehydrogenase. The observation of NADH and NADPH oxidation by intact mitochondria from the nde-1 mutant suggests the existence of a second external NAD(P)H dehydrogenase. The topology of the NDE1 protein was further studied by protease accessibility, in vitro import experiments, and in silico analysis of the amino acid sequence. Taken together, it appears that most of the NDE1 protein extends into the intermembrane space in a tightly folded conformation and that it remains anchored to the inner mitochondrial membrane by an Nterminal transmembrane domain.In nonphotosynthetic eukaryotes, the mitochondrion is the cellular organelle responsible for producing most of the energy required for cellular metabolism. The process of oxidative phosphorylation takes place in the inner mitochondrial membrane, whereby the electrons produced by the oxidation of substrates like NAD(P)H are transported through the electron transport chain to oxygen, coupled to the generation of a transmembrane proton gradient that eventually leads to ATP synthesis (1). In contrast to mammals, the electron transport chains of plants and fungi possess several nonproton-pumping NAD(P)H dehydrogenases for transferring electrons to ubiquinone (2). In the case of potato tubers, four rotenone-insensitive NAD(P)H dehydrogenases have been identified in the inner mitochondrial membrane, two with the catalytic site facing the matrix (3, 4) and two facing the intermembrane space (5). In mitochondria from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where the proton-pumping complex I is not present, the oxidation of NADH and NADPH is performed exclusively by three nonproton-pumping enzymes, one facing the matrix and two facing the intermembrane space (6 -8). In addition, the genome analysis of Synechocystis revealed three open reading frames that may code for such type II NAD(P)H dehydrogenases (9). On the other hand, only one external type II NADH dehydrogenase was reported for the fungus Yarrowia lipolytica (10). Although NAD(P)H dehydrogenases have been studied for a long time, our understanding of protein function at the molecular level is still very incomplete. The cloning of genes encoding several of these rotenoneinsensitive NAD(P)H dehydrogenases from mitochondria of different organisms (7, 10 -13) provides important tools for further research in this field. These enzymes might constitute a wasteful system acting to prevent the overreduction of the electron transport components and the production of reactive oxygen species, but their exact roles remain unclear.Both proton-pumping and nonproton-pumping NAD(P)H dehydrogenases have been described in Neurospora crassa mitochon...