The dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is used as a model to study fungal differentiation because it grows as yeast-like cells or forms hyphal cells in response to changes in environmental conditions. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a gene, ZNC1, involved in the dimorphic transition in Y. lipolytica. The ZNC1 gene encodes a 782 amino acid protein that contains a Zn(II)2C6 fungal-type zinc finger DNA-binding domain and a leucine zipper domain. ZNC1 transcription is elevated during yeast growth and decreases during the formation of mycelium. Cells in which ZNC1 has been deleted show increased hyphal cell formation. Znc1p-GFP localizes to the nucleus, but mutations within the leucine zipper domain of Znc1p, and to a lesser extent within the Zn(II)2C6 domain, result in a mislocalization of Znc1p to the cytoplasm. Microarrays comparing gene expression between znc1::URA3 and wild-type cells during both exponential growth and the induction of the yeast-to-hypha transition revealed 1,214 genes whose expression was changed by 2-fold or more under at least one of the conditions analyzed. Our results suggest that Znc1p acts as a transcription factor repressing hyphal cell formation and functions as part of a complex network regulating mycelial growth in Y. lipolytica.

Catalases and peroxidases are the most important enzymes that degrade hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. These enzymes and superoxide dismutase are the first lines of cell defense against reactive oxygen species. Metarhizium anisopliae displays an increase in catalase-peroxidase activity during germination and growth. To determine the importance of catalase during the invasion process of M. anisopliae, we isolated the cat1 gene. cat1 cDNA expression in Escherichia coli and the subsequent purification of the protein confirmed that the cat1 gene codes for a monofunctional catalase. Expression analysis of this gene by RT-PCR from RNA isolated from fungus grown in liquid cultures showed a decrease in the expression level of the cat1 gene during germination and an increase during mycelium growth. The expression of this gene in the fungus during the infection process of the larvae of Plutella xylostella also showed a significant increase during invasive growth. Transgenic strains overexpressing the cat1 gene had twice the catalase activity of the wild-type strain. This increase in catalase activity was accompanied by a higher level of resistance to exogenous hydrogen peroxide and a reduction in the germination time. This improvement was also observed during the infection of P. xylostella larvae. M. anisopliae transgenic strains overexpressing the cat1 gene grew and spread faster in the soft tissue of the insect, reducing the time to death of the insect by 25% and the dose required to kill 50% of the population 14-fold.

The American pokeweed plant, Phytolacca americana, displays broad-spectrum resistance to plant viruses and is a heavy metal hyperaccumulator. However, little is known about the regulation of biotic and abiotic stress responses in this non-model plant. To investigate the control of miRNAs in gene expression, we sequenced the small RNA transcriptome of pokeweed treated with jasmonic acid (JA), a hormone that mediates pathogen defense and stress tolerance. We predicted 145 miRNAs responsive to JA, most of which were unique to pokeweed. These miRNAs were low in abundance and condition-specific, with discrete expression change. Integration of paired mRNA-Seq expression data enabled us to identify correlated, novel JA-responsive targets that mediate hormone biosynthesis, signal transduction, and pathogen defense. The expression of approximately half the pairs was positively correlated, an uncommon finding that we functionally validated by mRNA cleavage. Importantly, we report that a pokeweed-specific miRNA targets the transcript of OPR3, novel evidence that a miRNA regulates a JA biosynthesis enzyme. This first large-scale small RNA study of a Phytolaccaceae family member shows that miRNA-mediated control is a significant component of the JA response, associated with widespread changes in expression of genes required for stress adaptation.

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Selenium biofortified yeast is the most common dietary Se supplement in human nutrition and in farm animals. Therefore, the production and routine quality control of commercial products are highly demanded. In this work, a simple and cost-effective procedure is proposed for the determination of SeMet and Se(IV) in hydrolyzed yeast, consisting of ion-pair reversed phase separation, post-column hydride generation and Se quantification by atomic emission spectrometry with microwave plasma sustained by nitrogen (HPLC-HG-MP-AES). Freeze-dried biomass was hydrolyzed with methanesulfonic acid; chromatographic separation was performed with a mobile phase containing 0.08% v/v heptafluorobutyric and methanol (92 : 8) at a flow rate of 1 mL min À1 ; the column effluent was on-line mixed with an alkaline solution of potassium persulfate (K 2 S 2 O 8 6% m/v, NaOH 3% m/v), passed through a reaction coil submerged in a water bath at 60 C, and then 10 M hydrochloric acid was added prior to hydride generation in the MP-AES multimode sample introduction system (NaBH 4 2% m/v, NaOH 0.3% m/v). The total chromatographic run was accomplished in 5 min and the evaluated on-column quantification limits were 59 ng Se mL À1 for Se(IV) and 0.52 mg mL À1 for SeMet. The procedure was tested using standardized Seleno Excell® high selenium yeast and then applied for the analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae biofortified under different fermentation and exposure conditions. The procedure was capable of detecting differences in selenium concentration among cultures and the results were consistent with those obtained while coupling HPLC separation directly to ICP-MS detection.