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  • Review Article
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Molecular mechanisms of mechanosensing and their roles in fungal contact sensing

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 6, pages 667–673 (2008)Cite this article

Key Points

  • Fungal plant pathogens undergo differentiation in response to contact with a surface. Specific features of the surface are sensed.

  • Candida albicans, an opportunistic human pathogen, exhibits contact-dependent filamentous growth, which might promote invasion of host tissue during infection.

  • The well-studied mechanosensitive ion channel MscL is activated by lipid-bilayer deformation. Mechanosensitive ion channels that might use a similar molecular mechanism for activation are involved in some of the contact-dependent responses of fungi.

  • Another mechanism for contact sensing involves fungal members of the G-protein coupled receptor family of proteins.

Abstract

Numerous fungal species respond to contact with a surface by undergoing differentiation. Contact between plant pathogenic fungi and a surface results in the elaboration of the complex structures that enable invasion of the host plant, and for the opportunistic human pathogen Candida albicans, contact with a semi-solid surface results in invasive growth into the subjacent material. The ability to sense contact with an appropriate surface therefore contributes to the ability of these fungi to cause disease in their respective hosts. This Review discusses molecular mechanisms of mechanosensitivity, the proteins involved, such as mechanosensitive ion channels, G-protein-coupled receptors and integrins, and their putative roles in fungal contact sensing.

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Figure 1: Candida albicans differentiation.
Figure 2: Function of mechanosensitive ion channels.
Figure 3: Sensing of cytoskeletal forces.

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Acknowledgements

I thank P. Watnick, D. Amberg, B. Cormack, J. Koehler, S. Hadley, D. Brown Jr, M. Vinces and P. Zucchi for stimulating discussions and K. Heldwein and C. Squires for careful reading of the manuscript. I am particularly grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose comments helped determine the scope of this Review. I also thank R. Connolly (Surgical Research Laboratory, Tufts-New England Medical Center) for assistance with the study of C. albicans in the rabbit ileal loop. Research in my laboratory is supported by grant AI076156 from the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, 02111, Massachusetts, USA

    Carol A. Kumamoto

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DATABASES

Entrez Gene

MID1

Entrez Genome Project

Candida albicans

Magnaporthe grisea

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Glossary

Appressorium

The swollen end of a fungal hypha that is involved in host infection.

Hypha

A filament that is composed of highly elongated cells that lack constrictions at the septa and remain attached after division.

Patch clamping

A technique whereby a small electrode tip is sealed onto a patch of cell membrane, making it possible to record the flow of current through individual ion channels or pores in the patch.

Germ tube

An elongated daughter cell that is the precursor to a hypha.

Stomata

Pores found on the undersides of leaves that open and close to regulate gas and water exchange.

Guard cells

A pair of cells in the centre of a stomatal complex that flank the stomatal pore.

Thigmotropism

The ability of cells to orientate growth with respect to features of the physical environment.

Pseudohyphae

Chains of attached, elongated cells with constrictions at the septa.

Biofilm

A three dimensional community of cells that are attached to a surface, are surrounded by exopolymeric matrix and exhibit distinctive phenotypes.

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Kumamoto, C. Molecular mechanisms of mechanosensing and their roles in fungal contact sensing. Nat Rev Microbiol 6, 667–673 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1960

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