Sensing host and environmental cues by fungal GPCRs

Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2024 Dec:82:102667. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102667. Epub 2024 Nov 19.

Abstract

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest superfamily of cell surface membrane receptors in eukaryotes. Unlike plants, fungi do not have receptor kinases or receptor-like kinases. Instead, GPCRs play critical roles in fungi to sense signals crucial for their survival and interspecies interactions to activate downstream cAMP and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways via heterotrimeric G proteins. Some fungal GPCRs have relatively conserved roles in nutrient sensing and pheromone recognition to facilitate growth and sexual reproduction. For fungal pathogens with expanded families of classical or fungal-specific GPCRs, including those with the CFEM (common in fungal extracellular membrane) domain, distinctive GPCRs are involved in recognizing different signals from their hosts and surroundings. Although only a few ligands recognized by fungal GPCRs have been identified, recent studies have advanced our knowledge of GPCR biology in plant pathogenic and nematode-trapping fungi.

Keywords: G-protein-coupled receptors; Interkingdom interactions; Intracellular signaling; Ligand sensing; Pathogenic fungi.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Fungal Proteins / genetics
  • Fungal Proteins / metabolism
  • Fungi* / metabolism
  • Fungi* / physiology
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions
  • Plants / metabolism
  • Plants / microbiology
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled* / genetics
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled* / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • Fungal Proteins