Conserved Roles of MonA in Fungal Growth and Development in AspergillusSpecies

AbstractMonA is a subunit of a guanine nucleotide exchange factor that is important for vacuole passing and autophagy processes in eukaryotes. In this study, we characterized the function of MonA, an orthologue of Saccharomyces cerevisiaeMon1, in the model fungus Aspergillus nidulansand a toxigenic fungus A. flavus. In A. nidulans, the absence of AnimonAled to decreased fungal growth, reduced asexual reproduction, and defective cleistothecia production. In addition, AnimonAdeletion mutants exhibited decreased spore viability, had reduced trehalose contents in conidia, and were sensitive to thermal stress. In A. flavus, deletion of AflmonAcaused decreased fungal growth and defective production of asexual spores and sclerotia structures. Moreover, the absence of monAaffected vacuole morphology in both species. Taken together, these results indicate that MonA plays conserved roles in controlling fungal growth, development and vacuole morphology in A. nidulansand A. flavus.