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Journal article

Epigenetic and posttranslational modifications in light signal transduction and the circadian clock in Neurospora crassa

  • Proietto, Marco Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin", Sapienza-University of Rome, Italy
  • Bianchi, Michele Maria Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin", Sapienza-University of Rome, Italy
  • Ballario, Paola Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin", Sapienza-University of Rome, Italy - Pasteur Institute, Cenci Bolognetti Foundation and Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", Sapienza-University of Rome, Italy
  • Brenna, Andrea Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin", Sapienza-University of Rome, Italy - Pasteur Institute, Cenci Bolognetti Foundation and Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", Sapienza-University of Rome, Italy - Department of Biology, Division of Biochemistry, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
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    07.07.2015
Published in:
  • International Journal of Molecular Sciences. - 2015, vol. 16, no. 7, p. 15347–15383
phosphorylation
acetylation
methylation
chromatin remodeling
light signal transduction
circadian rhythms
Neurospora crassa
English Blue light, a key abiotic signal, regulates a wide variety of physiological processes in many organisms. One of these phenomena is the circadian rhythm presents in organisms sensitive to the phase-setting effects of blue light and under control of the daily alternation of light and dark. Circadian clocks consist of autoregulatory alternating negative and positive feedback loops intimately connected with the cellular metabolism and biochemical processes. Neurospora crassa provides an excellent model for studying the molecular mechanisms involved in these phenomena. The White Collar Complex (WCC), a blue-light receptor and transcription factor of the circadian oscillator, and Frequency (FRQ), the circadian clock pacemaker, are at the core of the Neurospora circadian system. The eukaryotic circadian clock relies on transcriptional/translational feedback loops: some proteins rhythmically repress their own synthesis by inhibiting the activity of their transcriptional factors, generating self-sustained oscillations over a period of about 24 h. One of the basic mechanisms that perpetuate self-sustained oscillations is post translation modification (PTM). The acronym PTM generically indicates the addition of acetyl, methyl, sumoyl, or phosphoric groups to various types of proteins. The protein can be regulatory or enzymatic or a component of the chromatin. PTMs influence protein stability, interaction, localization, activity, and chromatin packaging. Chromatin modification and PTMs have been implicated in regulating circadian clock function in Neurospora. Research into the epigenetic control of transcription factors such as WCC has yielded new insights into the temporal modulation of light-dependent gene transcription. Here we report on epigenetic and protein PTMs in the regulation of the Neurospora crassa circadian clock. We also present a model that illustrates the molecular mechanisms at the basis of the blue light control of the circadian clock.
Faculty
Faculté des sciences et de médecine
Department
Département de Médecine
Language
  • English
Classification
Biological sciences
License
License undefined
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/304533
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