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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2002, p. 2802-2808, Vol. 68, No. 6
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.6.2802-2808.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Gene from Aspergillus nidulans with Similarity to URE2 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Encodes a Glutathione S-Transferase Which Contributes to Heavy Metal and Xenobiotic Resistance

Department of Genetics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia

Received 2 November 2001/ Accepted 20 March 2002

Aspergillus nidulans is a saprophytic ascomycete that utilizes a wide variety of nitrogen sources. We identified a sequence from A. nidulans similar to the glutathione S-transferase-like nitrogen regulatory domain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ure2. Cloning and sequencing of the gene, designated gstA, revealed it to be more similar to URE2 than the S. cerevisiae glutathione S-transferases. However, creation and analysis of a gstA deletion mutant revealed that the gene does not participate in nitrogen metabolite repression. Instead, it encodes a functional theta class glutathione S-transferase that is involved in resistance to a variety of xenobiotics and metals and confers susceptibility to the systemic fungicide carboxin. Northern analysis showed that gstA transcription is strongly activated upon exposure to 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and weakly activated by oxidative stress or growth on galactose as a carbon source. These results suggest that nitrogen metabolite repression in A. nidulans does not involve a homolog of the S. cerevisiae URE2 gene and that the global nitrogen regulatory system differs significantly in these two fungi.

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