New Paper by the Künzler and the Piel Groups

Martina Stöckli, Brandon I. Morinaka, Gerald Lackner, Anja Kombrink, Ramon Sieber, Céline Margot, Claire E. Stanley, Andrew J. deMello, Jörn Piel, Markus Künzler

Mol Microbiol. 2019 May 14. doi: 10.1111/mmi.14277.

Filamentous fungi depend on chemical defense to protect themselves from predators and competitors. Production of defense chemicals has a fitness cost, however, and is therefore often strictly regulated. In their paper, the Künzler group shows, in collaboration with the Piel and de Mello groups, that the production of an antibiotic by the vegetative mycelium of an ink cap mushroom can be triggered by bacteria. The fungus senses the bacteria by yet to be identified compounds that are secreted by the bacteria. These results suggest that fungi, similar to animals and plants, have means to recognize antagonists and mount a respective defense response.

Link to the paper in external pageMolecular Microbiologycall_made.

Link to the new article on the website of the Department of Biology, ETHZ