Application of the red fluorescent protein mCherry in mycelial labeling and organelle tracing in the dermatophyte Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Issue 6 (23rd February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xiao, Chenwen; Li, Ling; Lao, Limin; Liu, Yan; Wei, Qiang; Ji, Quan'an; Sun, Guochang; Lin, Fucheng; Wang, Jiaoyu; Bao, Guolian
• Is Part Of: FEMS microbiology letters. Volume 365:Issue 6(2018:Mar.)
• Publication Date: 2018-02-23
• Subjects: Trichophyton mentagrophytes -- fluorescent -- mCherry -- AtMT; Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579
• DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fny006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0378-1097

Abstract

Abstract: Trichophyton mentagrophytes is a fungus that causes skin disease in humans and other animals worldwide. Studies on molecular biology and fluorescent labeling of the fungus are limited. Here, we applied mCherry for the first time in T. mentagrophytes to label the fungus and its organelles. We constructed four expression vectors of mCherry or mCherry fusions containing a variety of resistance markers and promoters, which were then integrated, together with two previous mCherry expression vectors, in T. mentagrophytes via Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation ( At MT). The resulting transformants emitted bright red fluorescence. We used the histone protein H2B and the peroxisome targeting signal 1 (PTS1) peptide to target the nucleus and peroxisomes, respectively, in T. mentagrophytes . In the transformants expressing mCherry-fused H2B, the fluorescence was distinctly localized to the nuclei in hyphae, spores and the fungal cells in infected animal tissue. In the T. mentagrophytes transformants where the peroxisome was targeted, the mCherry was present as small dots (0.2–1 μm diameter) throughout the spores and the hyphae. We also constructed a T. mentagrophytes At MT library containing more than 1000 hygromycin-resistant transformants that were genetically stable. Our results provide useful tools for further investigations on molecular pathogenesis of T. mentagrophytes . Abstract : mCherry was used for the first time to label Trichophyton mentagrophytes and to target its organelles.