A Transient Receptor Potential-like Calcium Ion Channel in the Filamentous Fungus <i>Aspergillus nidulans</i>

oleh: Hongchen Wang, Qiuyi Chen, Shizhu Zhang, Ling Lu

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-10-01

Deskripsi

Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) proteins constitute a superfamily that encodes transmembrane ion channels with highly diverse permeation and gating properties. Filamentous fungi possess putative TRP channel-encoded genes, but their functions remain elusive. Here, we report that a putative TRP-like calcium channel, <i>trpR,</i> in the filamentous fungus <i>Aspergillus nidulans</i>, performs important roles in conidiation and in adapting to cell wall disruption reagents in a high temperature-induced defect-dependent manner, especially under a calcium-limited culture condition. The genetic and functional relationship between TrpR and the previously identified high-affinity calcium channels CchA/MidA indicates that TrpR has an opposite response to CchA/MidA when reacting to cell wall disruption reagents and in regulating calcium transients. However, a considerable addition of calcium can rescue all the defects that occur in TrpR and CchA/MidA, meaning that calcium is able to bypass the necessary requirement. Nevertheless, the colocalization at the membrane of the Golgi for TrpR and the P-type Golgi Ca<sup>2+</sup> ATPase PmrA suggests two channels that may work as ion transporters, transferring Ca<sup>2+</sup> from the cytosol into the Golgi apparatus and maintaining cellular calcium homeostasis. Therefore, combined with data for the <i>trpR</i> deletion mutant revealing abnormal cell wall structures, TrpR works as a Golgi membrane calcium ion channel that involves cell wall integration.