A Pericentrin-Related Protein Homolog in Aspergillus nidulans Plays Important Roles in Nucleus Positioning and Cell Polarity by Affecting Microtubule Organization

Abstract

bPericentrin is a large coiled-coil protein in mammalian centrosomes that serves as a multifunctional scaffold for anchoring numerous proteins. Recent studies have linked numerous human disorders with mutated or elevated levels of pericentrin, suggesting unrecognized contributions of pericentrin-related proteins to the development of these disorders. In this study, we characterized AnPcpA, a putative homolog of pericentrin-related protein in the model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, and found that it is essential for conidial germination and hyphal development. Compared to the hyphal apex localization pattern of calmodulin (CaM), which has been identified as an interactive partner of the pericentrin homolog, GFP-AnPcpA fluorescence dots are associated mainly with nuclei, while the accumulation of CaM at the hyphal apex depends on the function of AnPcpA. In addition, the depletion of AnPcpA by an inducible alcA promoter repression results in severe growth defects and abnormal nuclear segregation. Most interestingly, in mature hyphal cells, knockdown of pericentrin was able to significantly induce changes in cell shape and cytoskeletal remodeling; it resulted in some enlarged compartments with condensed nuclei and anucleate small compartments as well. Moreover, defects in AnPcpA significantly disrupted the microtubule organization and nucleation, suggesting that AnPcpA may affect nucleus positioning by influencing microtubule organization.

Microtubule‐organizing centers of Aspergillus nidulans are anchored at septa by a disordered protein

“…S1A) (Table ). We localized GFP‐tagged orthologues of the half‐bridge proteins Sfi1 (Kilmartin, ; Lee et al ., ; Bouhlel et al ., ; Burns et al ., ), Cdc31 (Osmani et al ., ), the inner plaque protein Pcp1 (Flory et al ., ; Chen et al ., ) and the outer plaque protein SepK (Tomlin et al ., ; Kim et al ., ). All four proteins exclusively localized to SPBs and were absent from sMTOCs (Fig.…”

“…pombe , PcpA in Aspergillus nidulans ) is restricted to the inner plaque and is responsible for recruitment of the γ‐tubulin complexes (Supporting Information Fig. S1A) (Flory et al ., ; Chen et al ., ). The duplication of the SPB prior to mitosis requires a number of proteins extending from the central plaque along the nuclear envelope.…”

Host-to-Pathogen Gene Transfer Facilitated Infection of Insects by a Pathogenic Fungus

“…5 C ) [28]. There are other reports of failure in detecting GFP signal in fungal transformants expressing a hybrid gene, and the reason for the failure is not clear [31].…”

Drosophila pericentrin‐like protein promotes the formation of primordial germ cells

“…Pcnt was originally identified based on its localization to the PCM and its requirement to organize microtubule arrays in Xenopus extracts and cultured human cells (Doxsey, Stein, Evans, Calarco, & Kirschner, 1994). Indeed, chief among the conserved Pcnt functions are its roles in scaffolding the PCM and organizing microtubules (C.-T. Chen et al, 2014;P. Chen et al, 2012;Haren, Stearns, & Lüders, 2009;Lee & Rhee, 2011;Lerit et al, 2015;Lin et al, 2014;Martinez-Campos et al, 2004;Richens et al, 2015;Zimmerman, Sillibourne, Rosa, & Doxsey, 2004).…”