Identification and functional characterisation of ctr1, a Pleurotus ostreatus gene coding for a copper transporter

Abstract

Copper homeostasis is primordial for life maintenance and especially relevant for ligning-degrading fungi whose phenol-oxidase enzymes depend on this micronutrient for their activity. In this paper we report the identification of a gene (ctr1), coding for a copper transporter in the white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus, in a cDNA library constructed from four-days old vegetative mycelium growing in submerged culture. The results presented here indicate that: (1) ctr1 functionally complements the respiratory deficiency of a yeast mutant defective in copper transport supporting the transport activity of the Ctr1 protein; (2) ctr1 transcription is detected in all P. ostreatus developmental stages (with exception of lamellae) and is negatively regulated by the presence of copper in the culture media; (3) ctr1 is a single copy gene that maps to P. ostreatus linkage group III; and (4) the regulatory sequence elements found in the promoter of ctr1 agree with those found in other copper related genes described in other systems. These results provide the first description of a copper transporter in this white rot fungus and open the possibility of further studies on copper metabolism in higher basidiomyetes.