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Membrane Lipids and Circadian Rhythms in Neurospora crassa

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Book cover Membranes and Circadian Rythms

Summary

The possibility that membranes are involved in circadian rhythmicity in the ascomycete fungus Neurospora crassa is discussed. Neurospora is an ideal organism for testing this possibility; knowledge of its biochemistry and genetics is substantial, and mutants affecting circadian rhythms and/or lipid biochemistry are available.

The Neurospora circadian oscillator receives input on temperature and illumination from the environment. Evidence suggests that the Neurospora blue-light photoreceptor may be membrane-localized. Studies using Neurospora inositol and choline auxotrophs, however, appear to rule out hydrolysis of phospholipids by a phospholipase C or a phospholipase D in transduction of light signal information from the photoreceptor to the oscillator. The mechanism of temperature signal transduction remains unknown, but temperature-induced changes in membrane properties could play a role.

Involvement of membrane lipids in the mechanism of the oscillator itself is suggested by correlation of lengthened period with abnormal membrane composition in the Neurospora mutants cel, prd-1 and chol-1. The cel mutant is blocked in fatty acid synthesis; both the period of its rhythm and the fatty acid composition of its membranes are sensitive to environmental conditions, no simple relationship between its membrane composition and its period length has yet been described. The chol-1 mutant is also altered in lipid synthesis; it is a choline auxotroph unable to synthesize phosphatidylcholine unless choline is supplied. The prd-1 mutant was isolated on the basis of long circadian period; it has an abnormal membrane fatty acid composition, although its primary biochemical lesion is unknown.

The levels of linoleic and linolenic acid in the membranes of Neurospora vary with a circadian rhythm, and similar rhythms in fatty acid composition have been reported in a number of species of plants and animals. These rhythms could be part of the circadian oscillator mechanism, or part of an ouput pathway from the circadian oscillator.

Temperature compensation of membrane fluidity by enzymatic alteration of membrane lipid composition may play a role in the temperature compensation of rhythmicity, and this possibility is discussed. Temperature compensation of rhythmicity appears to be lost in three different mutants of Neurospora: cel, chol-1, and null alleles of frq. The cel and chol-1 mutants are defective in lipid synthesis, and are likely to show abnormal adjustment of membrane composition with temperature. The frq locus was originally identified on the basis of altered period length. There is no evidence for defective lipid metabolism in frq mutants, but such a defect has not been ruled out.

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Abbreviations

DAG:

sn-1,2-diacylglycerol

Ins(1,4,5)P3:

myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate

PtdCho:

phosphatidylcholine

PtdEtn:

phosphatidylethanolamine

PtdIns:

phosphatidylinositol

PtdIns(4,5)P 2 :

phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate

PtdOH:

phosphatidic acid. Fatty acids are represented in the text by x y notation in which x indicates the total number of carbons in the acyl chain and y indicates the nimber of double bonds. Positions of the double bonds are indicated by the standard device of using superscripts to a Greek letter delta preceding the x:y notation. The delta prefix is ommitted for the major unsaturated fatty acids of Neurospora: Δ9-18:1 (oleic acid), Δ9,12-18:2 (linoleic acid) and Δ9,12,15-18:3 (α-linolenic acid). The major saturated fatty acids of Neurospora are 16:0 (palmitic acid) and 18:0 (stearic acid).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, U-125, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269-3125, USA

    Gary G. Coté

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK

    Patricia L. Lakin-Thomas

  3. Department of Biology, 0116, University of Calfornia, 9500 Gilman Drive, San Diego La Jolla, CA, 92093-0116, USA

    Stuart Brody

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Biologie Moleculaire, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 46, avenue des Ortolans, 1170, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Therese Vanden Driessche

  2. Pool de Physique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine C.P. 222 50, avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Jean-Luc Guisset (Faculté de Sciences) (Faculté de Sciences)

  3. Chimie Generale I, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Solbosh C.P. 160/18 50, avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Ghislaine M. Petiau-de Vries (Faculté de Médecine) (Faculté de Médecine)

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Coté, G.G., Lakin-Thomas, P.L., Brody, S. (1996). Membrane Lipids and Circadian Rhythms in Neurospora crassa . In: Vanden Driessche, T., Guisset, JL., Petiau-de Vries, G.M. (eds) Membranes and Circadian Rythms. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79903-7_2

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