Global gene expression of post-senescent telomerase negative ter1? strain of Ustilago maydis

The dimorphic fungus Ustilago maydis transits from unicellular sporidia to multicellular mycelium and accomplish its life cycle in planta with teliospore formation. Mutations in either of telomerase core subunits, trt1 or ter1 cause deficiencies or inability to produce galls and teliospores when crossed to a wild-type strain. Here, the global transcriptome analysis of two ter1? survivor strains of U. maydis is reported. It revealed the deregulation of many telomerase-deleted response (TDR) genes previously reported in other telomerase-negative fungi, as the DDR and stress response genes, cell cycle, subtelomeric and some telomere proximal genes. Interestingly, other differentially expressed genes (DEGs) found in those ter1? survivors were pathogenic lifestyle factors, plant-pathogen crosstalk, iron uptake, meiosis, and melanin synthesis. The studied survivors were phenotypically comparable, yet they exhibited DEGs between them. Our global results suggest the teliospore formation in U. maydis controlled by key genes of pathogenic lifestyle and meiosis Overall design: Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for haploid U. maydis strain 518 and its KD derivatives (ter1::hph)