Differential gene expression of Mucor circinelloides under aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Mucor circinelloides is a filamentous fungus, which is frequently used as a model organism during studies among others on carotenoid biosynthesis, morphogenesis, RNA interference and pathogenicity mechanisms. It has the ability for morphological dimorphism, which means that the fungus aerobically produces filamentous hyphae, but it grows in a multipolar yeast form under anaerobiosis. Control and optimization of the fungal morphology and growth are essential for the various fermentation-based applications. Morphological dimorphism may also have consequences on virulence, and it is regarded as a virulence factor for several pathogenic fungi. Thus, revealing the molecular mechanism of the yeast-hyphal transition can be interesting for both the potential biotechnological applications and the developments to control mucormycosis. In the present study, transcriptomic analyses were carried out after cultivating the fungus either aerobically or anaerobically.