Distribution of transposons in Botrytis cinerea isolates collected from the wine regions of Eger and Tokaj, Hungary

Botryotinia fuckeliana (de Bary ex de Bary) Whetzel (anamorph: Botrytis cinerea Pers.:Fr.) is a cosmopolitan ascomycetous fungus that causes grey mould on a great number of plants in the temperate zone worldwide by infecting various tissues (Jarvis, 1980). In grapevine, the frequent occurrence of B. cinerea prior harvesting results in serious losses of fruits and deterioration of wine quality. This is also the case in Eger, a major Hungarian wine region in the North-Eastern part of the country, where B. cinerea is considered to the third most important grapevine pathogen after downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola /Berk. and Curt ex de Bary/ Berl. and de Toni) and powdery mildew [Erysiphe necator Schwein. var. necator (syn.: Uncinula necator /Schwein./ Burrill var. necator)], with an estimated annual loss of up to 15-20 %. In contrast, some 100 km eastwards in the Tokaj wine region, B. cinerea is also responsible for the phenomenon called ‘pourriture noble’ (noble rot). Under certain unique environmental conditions, mycelia growing on the surface of the uninjured, healthy berry drains water (but no substrates) via the fine infection hyphae. As a consequence, the concentration of all the soluble compounds within the berry significantly increase (Jarvis, 1980). Such berries yield the sweet, special quality wine called „aszu”

The CRE1 carbon catabolite repressor of the fungus Trichoderma reesei: a master regulator of carbon assimilation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The identification and characterization of the transcriptional regulatory networks governing the physiology and adaptation of microbial cells is a key step in understanding their behaviour. One such wide-domain regulatory circuit, essential to all cells, is carbon catabolite repression (CCR): it allows the cell to prefer some carbon sources, whose assimilation is of high nutritional value, over less profitable ones. In lower multicellular fungi, the C2H2 zinc finger CreA/CRE1 protein has been shown to act as the transcriptional repressor in this process. However, the complete list of its gene targets is not known.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we deciphered the CRE1 regulatory range in the model cellulose and hemicellulose-degrading fungus <it>Trichoderma reesei </it>(anamorph of <it>Hypocrea jecorina</it>) by profiling transcription in a wild-type and a delta-<it>cre1 </it>mutant strain on glucose at constant growth rates known to repress and de-repress CCR-affected genes. Analysis of genome-wide microarrays reveals 2.8% of transcripts whose expression was regulated in at least one of the four experimental conditions: 47.3% of which were repressed by CRE1, whereas 29.0% were actually induced by CRE1, and 17.2% only affected by the growth rate but CRE1 independent. Among CRE1 repressed transcripts, genes encoding unknown proteins and transport proteins were overrepresented. In addition, we found CRE1-repression of nitrogenous substances uptake, components of chromatin remodeling and the transcriptional mediator complex, as well as developmental processes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study provides the first global insight into the molecular physiological response of a multicellular fungus to carbon catabolite regulation and identifies several not yet known targets in a growth-controlled environment.</p