Screening for Genes Important for Cold Acclimatization in Neurospora crassa
Faculty Sponsor
Michael Watters
College
Arts and Sciences
Discipline(s)
Biology
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Summer 7-28-2016
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 for Cold Acclimatization in Neurospora crassa" (2016). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 570.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/570
