Screening for genes important to cold acclimatization in Neurospora crassa.
Primary Submission Contact
Michael Watters
Faculty Sponsor
Michael Watters
Faculty Sponsor Email Address
michael.watters@valpo.edu
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/Program
Biology
Document Type
Poster Presentation
Date
Fall 10-28-2016
Abstract
The environmental conditions that life must contend with can vary widely. Organisms have evolved a wide range of mechanisms for contending with these changing conditions. For relatively simple, sessile organisms (such as fungi), they must adapt themselves to the extremes of the environment. When subjected to rapid drops of temperature (cold shock), Neurospora responds with a dramatic, but temporary shift in its branching pattern. The fungal response, seems to parallel the physiological response to similar cold shock which has been observed in E. coli in which a set of genes is activated transiently in order to adjust the cell for growth in the cold. While the Neurospora response has been described morphologically, it has yet to be examined to any serious extent genetically. This project aimed to begin the genetic characterization of the cold shock response. Selected mutants from the Neurospora knockout library were screened for their response to cold shock with those displaying variation from the wild-type identified and categorized according to phenotype. Several knockout mutants were identified with altered responses. The genes impacted in these mutants are listed and discussed below.
Recommended Citation
Watters, Michael K.; Howell, Holly; and Manzanilla, Victor, "Screening for genes important to cold acclimatization in Neurospora crassa." (2016). Fall Interdisciplinary Research Symposium. 5.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/fires/5
Additional Presentation Information
Wall Poster
