Back

Ammonium Transporters Govern Nutrient Sensing and Trap Induction in the Nematode-Trapping Fungi Arthrobotrys oligospora

Juan, S.-C.; Schwartz, H. T.; Hsueh, Y.-P.

2026-02-09 genetics
10.64898/2026.02.06.704490 bioRxiv
Show abstract

To survive nutrient scarcity, organisms must detect environmental cues and acquire essential resources efficiently. Under nutrient-limiting conditions, nematode-trapping fungi (NTF) such as Arthrobotrys oligospora form specialized traps to capture nematodes; this transition can be suppressed by the ready availability of carbon and nitrogen. Ammonium transporters of the MEP family are key regulators of nitrogen sensing and uptake across all forms of life. We identified three MEP genes in A. oligospora based on protein sequence homology. Functional assays revealed that loss of the MEP genes alters the funguss ability to produce traps, without affecting the morphology of the traps or their ability to function in catching nematodes. Heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed functional conservation of Mep transporter subclasses. Together, the Mep transporters of A. oligospora contribute to ammonium-regulated trap induction.

Matching journals

The top 8 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

50% of probability mass above

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.