Die Rolle des MATE-Proteins für die Ektomykorrhizasymbiose mit Pilzen der Gattung Tricholoma

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Erika Kothe
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
• Term: from 2006 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 34466171

The transporters of the MATE („multidrug and toxic extrusion“) family are part of the stress protection machinery able to excrete a broad variety of compounds from the cell. In the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, the fungal partner can protect its host tree from environmental stressors by not delivering such toxic agents to the plant. The identification of the MATE encoding gene mte1 from the mycorrhizal basidiomycete Tricholoma vaccinum allowed us to functionally characterize the protein using a yeast system. We could show transport of xenobiotics, plant secondary metabolites and heavy metals. With a newly developed, stable transformation system, the transporter gene can now be over-expressed in Tricholoma, allowing a characterization also under mycorrhizal conditions including transformation of in vitro mutagenized sequences. Since in nature, the fungi will interact with other soil-borne microbes, we would like to identify additional communication molecules for their transport by the Mte1 protein. This work is to be supplemented by investigations performed in another, related fungus, Schizophyllum commune. For this fungus, the genome sequence allowed the identification of two MATE encoding genes, one of which shows evidence for incorporation of selenocysteine, which would modify the activity of the protein. Hence, we want to characterize this new member of the MATE family with special respect to the function of this unusual amino acid.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants