Transcriptomic markers of fungal growth, respiration and carbon-use efficiency
Hasby, Fahri; Barbi, Florian; Manzoni, Stefano; Lindahl, BjörnAbstract
Fungal metabolic carbon acquisition and its subsequent partitioning between biomass production and respiration, i.e. the carbon-use efficiency (CUE), are central parameters in biogeochemical modeling. However, current available techniques for estimating these parameters are all associated with practical and theoretical shortcomings, making assessments unreliable. Gene expression analyses hold the prospect of phenotype prediction by indirect means, providing new opportunities to obtain information about metabolic priorities. We cultured four different fungal isolates (Chalara longipes, Laccaria bicolor, Serpula lacrymans and Trichoderma harzianum) in liquid media with contrasting nitrogen availability and measured growth rates and respiration to calculate CUE. By relating gene expression markers to measured carbon fluxes, we identified genes coding for 1,3-β-glucan synthase and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase as suitable markers for growth and respiration, respectively, capturing both intraspecific variation as well as within-strain variation dependent on growth medium. A transcript index based on these markers correlated significantly with differences in CUE between the fungal isolates. Our study paves the way for the use of these markers to assess differences in growth, respiration and CUE in natural fungal communities, using metatranscriptomic or the RT-qPCR approach.
Keywords
growth; respiration; carbon-use efficiency; metatranscriptomics; gene markers; fungiPublished in
FEMS Microbiology Letters2021, volume: 368, number: 15, article number: fnab100
Authors' information
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Microbiology
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fnab100
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/115525