Crosstalk between Three Fungus-specific Transcription Factors, WetA, VosA, and VelB, in Asexual Spores of Aspergillus nidulans [RNA-seq]

In filamentous fungi, asexual sporulation involves morphological differentiation and metabolic changes. The process of asexual spore formation is tightly regulated by a variety of transcription factors including VosA, VelB, and WetA. A number of studies have demonstrated that these three transcription factors are key regulators of asexual spore formation and maturation in the model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. To gain a more mechanistic view of the roles these transcription factors play in asexual spores, genome-wide and metabolomic analyses were conducted in A. nidulans conidia. RNA sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation-based sequencing data suggested that the three transcription factors directly or indirectly regulate the expression of genes associated with spore-wall integrity, asexual development, and secondary metabolism. In addition, metabolomics analysis of conidia extracts showed strikingly different primary and secondary metabolite profiles for wild-type and mutant conidia. These results suggest that WetA, VosA, and VelB play key roles in the morphological development of and metabolic changes in conidia. This entry is for the RNA-seq data. Overall design: Three technical replicates of each genotype (wild type, deltavelB, and deltavosA) were sequenced.