Role of Neurospora heat shock transcription factors in temperature sensing and development

The filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa is a well-known model eukaryote used for studying numerous phenomena including; gene silencing, light signal transduction and the circadian clock. The Neurospora genome is fully sequenced and contains almost 10 000 genes many of which encode proteins of unknown function. Investigations into the role of these proteins of unknown function will not only throw light on Neurospora growth and survival strategies but also inform studies on other industrially important fungi, cultivated strains, and plant and animal pathogens.

We are interested in the role of two genes encoding proteins similar to heat shock transcription factors. We found that hsf1 is an essential gene and that hsf2 is required for asexual sporulation (Thompson et al., 2008). The aim of this project is to identify targets of HSF1 and HSF2 and determine their importance for the organisms’ development and its ability to respond to temperature change.