GmcA Is a Putative Glucose-Methanol-Choline Oxidoreductase Required for the Induction of Asexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans

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Aspergillus nidulans asexual differentiation is induced by Upstream Developmental Activators (UDAs) that include the bZIP-type Transcription Factor (TF) FlbB. A 2D-PAGE/MS-MS-coupled screen for proteins differentially expressed in the presence and absence of FlbB identified 18 candidates. Most candidates belong to GO term classes involved in osmotic and/or oxidative stress response. Among these, we focused on GmcA, a putative glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase which is upregulated in a ΔflbB background. GmcA is not required for growth since no differences were detected in the radial extension upon deletion of gmcA. However, its activity is required to induce conidiation under specific culture conditions. A ΔgmcA strain conidiates profusely under acid conditions but displays a characteristic fluffy aconidial phenotype in alkaline medium. The absence of asexual development in a ΔgmcA strain can be suppressed, on one hand, using high concentrations of non-fermentable carbon sources like glycerol, and on the other hand, when the cMyb-type UDA TF flbD is overexpressed. Overall, the results obtained in this work support a role for GmcA at early stages of conidiophore initiation.