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Fungal photobiology: visible light as a signal for stress, space and time

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Abstract

Visible light is an important source of energy and information for much of life on this planet. Though fungi are neither photosynthetic nor capable of observing adjacent objects, it is estimated that the majority of fungal species display some form of light response, ranging from developmental decision-making to metabolic reprogramming to pathogenesis. As such, advances in our understanding of fungal photobiology will likely reach the broad fields impacted by these organisms, including agriculture, industry and medicine. In this review, we will first describe the mechanisms by which fungi sense light and then discuss the selective advantages likely imparted by their ability to do so.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to than Jillian Emerson for her contributions to the figure. Our own work was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institute of Health to J.J.L (Grant RO1 GM083336) and J.C.D (Grants RO1 GM34985 and PO1 GM68087). This review article is supported, in part, by a grant from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) of Brazil #2014/01229-4.

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  1. Department of Genetics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA

    Kevin K. Fuller, Jennifer J. Loros & Jay C. Dunlap

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  1. Kevin K. Fuller
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  2. Jennifer J. Loros
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  3. Jay C. Dunlap
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Correspondence to Jennifer J. Loros or Jay C. Dunlap.

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Communicated by D.E.N. Rangel.

This article is part of the Special Issue “Fungal Stress Responses”.

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Fuller, K.K., Loros, J.J. & Dunlap, J.C. Fungal photobiology: visible light as a signal for stress, space and time. Curr Genet 61, 275–288 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-014-0451-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-014-0451-0

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