1. Regulation and Role of Fungal Secondary Metabolites
- Author
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Derek J. Mattern, Volker Schroeckh, Axel A. Brakhage, Jakob Weber, Juliane Macheleidt, Juliane Fischer, Vito Valiante, and Tina Netzker
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Genetics ,Virulence Factors ,030106 microbiology ,Fungi ,Virulence ,Secondary Metabolism ,Biology ,Secondary metabolite ,Plants ,Virulence factor ,Epigenesis, Genetic ,03 medical and health sciences ,Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal ,medicine ,Transcriptional regulation ,Animals ,Epigenetics ,Signal transduction ,Secondary metabolism ,Gene ,medicine.drug ,Signal Transduction - Abstract
Fungi have the capability to produce a tremendous number of so-called secondary metabolites, which possess a multitude of functions, e.g., communication signals during coexistence with other microorganisms, virulence factors during pathogenic interactions with plants and animals, and in medical applications. Therefore, research on this topic has intensified significantly during the past 10 years and thus knowledge of regulatory mechanisms and the understanding of the role of secondary metabolites have drastically increased. This review aims to depict the complexity of all the regulatory elements involved in controlling the expression of secondary metabolite gene clusters, ranging from epigenetic control and signal transduction pathways to global and specific transcriptional regulators. Furthermore, we give a short overview on the role of secondary metabolites, focusing on the interaction with other microorganisms in the environment as well as on pathogenic relationships.
- Published
- 2016