Figure 6

Acthi is involved in hyphal growth and spore germination in A. chrysogenum. (A) The biomass levels of WT, Acthi(−) and Acthi(+) on fermentation days 4 and 7. The biomass of Acthi(+) dramatically increased in the fermentation phase compared with the WT strain, and the mycelium weight of the Acthi (−) strain was approximately one-half that of the WT strain. (B) Relative expression levels of AcevA, AcsepH, cpcR1 in WT, Acthi(−) and Acthi(+). The primers used for RT-qPCR are listed in Table 2. The relative mRNA abundance levels were standardized against the actin gene levels. Error bars represent the standard deviations from three independent experiments. Significant differences in the relative expression levels for AcevA, AcsepH, cpcR1 in Acthi(−) and Acthi(+) compared with WT are indicated as “*”; p value confidence levels: “*” < 0.05, “**” < 0.01, and “***” < 0.001. The transcription levels of AcveA, AcsepH, cpcR1 showed similarly higher levels in Acthi(+) and lower levels in Acthi(−) compared to those in WT. (C) Morphological characteristics of WT, Acthi(−) and Acthi(+) on fermentation days 4 and 7. The mycelium growth of WT is different from that of the Acthi mutants.