An AP-1-like transcription factor, NAP-1, regulates expression of the glutathione S-transferase and NADH:flavin oxidoreductase genes in Neurospora crassa.

AP-1-like transcription factors play crucial roles in oxidative stress responses in yeast and filamentous fungi. The deletion of an AP-1-like transcription factor gene, nap-1, in Neurospora crassa slightly increased its sensitivity to oxidative stressors, including menadione. Microarray and quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR analyses were employed to identify menadione-inducible genes (migs) and the roles of NAP-1 in their regulation. N. crassa migs include three putative glutathione S-transferase genes and two NADH:flavin oxidoreductase genes, orthologs of OYE2 and OYE3, both of which play roles in menadione tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Menadione induced nuclear localization of NAP-1, and oxidative upregulation of many of migs were NAP-1 dependent. Genes for a thioredoxin, a glutathione reductase, and a glutathione peroxidase were slightly upregulated by the chemical only in the wild-type strain, suggesting that NAP-1 is involved in their oxidative induction and probably dose not contribute to high-level constitutive expressions of such genes.