Robust Transcriptional Response to Heat Shock Impacting Diverse Cellular Processes despite Lack of Heat Shock Factor in Microsporidia

Abstract

We do not fully understand why some fungal species are able to grow at temperatures approaching mammalian body temperature. Nosema ceranae , a microsporidium, is a type of fungal parasite that infects honey bees and grows optimally at the colony temperature of 35°C despite possessing cellular machinery for responding to heat stress that is notably simpler than that of other fungi. We find that N. ceranae demonstrates a robust and broad response to heat shock. These results provide important insight into the stress responses of this type of fungus, allow new comparisons with other pathogenic fungi, and potentially enable the discovery of novel treatment strategies for this type of fungus.