Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24692637›Full record

ArticlemBio2014

Discovering functions of unannotated genes from a transcriptome survey of wild fungal isolates.

Christopher E Ellison, David Kowbel, N Louise Glass, John W Taylor, Rachel B Brem

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in mBio, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Wild Isolates ofMicroorganisms · 2020
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Christopher E Ellison
David Kowbel
N Louise Glass
John W Taylor
Rachel B Brem

Funding

Tools for Functional Analysis and Cell BiologyP01GM068087 · NIGMS · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI DUNLAP, JAY C. · 2004 to 2013
$19.3M
"The development of genetics and genomics for analysis of quantitative traits"R24GM081597 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI TAYLOR, JOHN W. · 2008 to 2011
$1.4M
NIGMS NIH HHS P01 GM068087NIGMS NIH HHS P01GM068087NIGMS NIH HHS R24 GM081597
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Most fungal genomes are poorly annotated, and many fungal traits of industrial and biomedical relevance are not well suited to classical genetic screens. Assigning genes to phenotypes on a genomic scale thus remains an urgent need in the field. We developed an approach to infer gene function from expression profiles of wild fungal isolates, and we applied our strategy to the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. Using transcriptome measurements in 70 strains from two well-defined clades of this microbe, we first identified 2,247 cases in which the expression of an unannotated gene rose and fell across N. crassa strains in parallel with the expression of well-characterized genes. We then used image analysis of hyphal morphologies, quantitative growth assays, and expression profiling to test the functions of four genes predicted from our population analyses. The results revealed two factors that influenced regulation of metabolism of nonpreferred carbon and nitrogen sources, a gene that governed hyphal architecture, and a gene that mediated amino acid starvation resistance. These findings validate the power of our population-transcriptomic approach for inference of novel gene function, and we suggest that this strategy will be of broad utility for genome-scale annotation in many fungal systems. IMPORTANCE Some fungal species cause deadly infections in humans or crop plants, and other fungi are workhorses of industrial chemistry, including the production of biofuels. Advances in medical and industrial mycology require an understanding of the genes that control fungal traits. We developed a method to infer functions of uncharacterized genes by observing correlated expression of their mRNAs with those of known genes across wild fungal isolates. We applied this strategy to a filamentous fungus and predicted functions for thousands of unknown genes. In four cases, we experimentally validated the predictions from our method, discovering novel genes involved in the metabolism of nutrient sources relevant for biofuel production, as well as colony morphology and starvation resistance. Our strategy is straightforward, inexpensive, and applicable for predicting gene function in many fungal species.

Indexed as

Genes, FungalTranscriptomeCarbonFungal ProteinsGenotypeHyphaeMolecular Sequence AnnotationNeurospora crassaNitrogenOptical ImagingPhenotypeCarbonFungal ProteinsNitrogen

Identifiers

PMID24692637
PMCPMC3977361

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.