Differential expression of cell wall degrading enzymes in Oidiodendron maius in response to varying carbon source
department or school: Science, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)
department or school: Biology, Department of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Feldman, Erin Christie
issued: 2021-08-20T22:06:10Z
issued: 2021
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: As the most recently diverged mycorrhizal lineage, ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) fungi remain facultatively symbiotic and have retained many saprotrophic enzymes. This symbiosis represents an adaptation to acidic and nutrient-poor soils that plants in the Ericaceae family typically inhabit, including tundra, boreal forests, heathlands and peatlands – environments whose carbon sequestration capabilities are particularly sensitive to changing climate. The majority of soil carbon is derived from plant or fungal biomass; one way to examine the role of soil fungi in carbon cycling is to examine their ability to break down cell wall material contained within these soils. To investigate the saprotrophic potential of the ErM fungus Oidiodendron maius, I used two complimentary techniques. First, RNA sequencing was used to examine differential expression of cell wall degrading enzymes (CWDEs) by O. maius across substrates of different carbon complexity: glucose, bovine serum albumin and peat. I found significant differential regulation of 52 CWDEs in response to substrate, 13 of which were selected as targets for quantification across a greater number of substrates. I then performed droplet digital PCR (ddPCR)-based transcript abundance profiling of these target CWDEs in O. maius grown on 11 carbon sources of varying complexity. Concurrently, I developed a method to validate reference gene selection to generate normalization factors, calculated as the geometric mean of three reference gene transcript levels . After normalization, the coefficient of variation between biological replicates was substantially reduced, though by varying degrees dependent on the target gene assayed. While differential regulation of these transcripts was not as pronounced as I had predicted, I was able to demonstrate a significant upregulation of several transcripts responsible for cellulose and hemicellulose degradation in response to peat- and cellulose-containing substrates. Overall, this thesis repr…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/79361
note: Differential Expression of Cell Wall Degrading Enzymes in Oidiodendron maius in Response to Varying Carbon Source by Erin Christie Feldman B.Sc., University of Victoria, 2007 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Biology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) August 2021 © Erin Christie Feldman, 2021 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Differential Expression of Carbohydrate Active Enzymes in Oidiodendron maius in Response to Varying Carbon Source submitted by Erin Feldman in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science Melanie Jones, Professor, Biology, UBCO Supervisor Dan Durall, Associate Professor, Biology, UBCO Supervisor Gwen Grelet, Senior Researcher, Land Use & Ecosystems, Manaaki Whenua, NZ Supervisory Committee Member Soheil Mahmoud, Associate Professor Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UBCO Supervisory Committee Member Mary Berbee, Professor, Botany, UBC University Examiner Click or tap here to enter text. External Examiner Click or tap here to enter text. Click or tap here to enter text. iii Abstract As the most recently diverged mycorrhizal lineage, ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) fungi remain facultatively symbiotic and have retained many saprotrophic enzymes. This symbiosis represents an adaptation to acidic and nutrient-poor soils that plants in the Ericaceae family typically inhabit, including tundra, boreal forests, heathlands and peatlands – environments whose carbon sequestration capabilities are particularly sensitive to changing climate. The majority of soil carbon is derived from plant or fungal biomass; one way to examine the role of soil fungi in carbon cycling is to examine their ability to break down cell wall material contained within these soils. To investigate the saprotrophic potential of th…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2021-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0401475
language: eng
degree discipline: Biology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Jones, Melanie D.
contributor: Durall, Daniel
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/79361