Sirtuin Deacetylases In Fungi: Connecting Metabolism To Lifecycle Progression, Stress Response And Genome Stability

Sirtuins are NAD(+)-dependent deacylases that regulate biological processes such as the maintenance of genome stability, response to stress, adaptation to low or poor nutrients, and initiation of life cycle events such as mating and sporulation. Because sirtuins require NAD(+) for activity, changes in cellular metabolism that alter the NAD(+)/NADH ratio or NAD(+) availability may influence the activity of sirtuins. Therefore, biological processes regulated by sirtuins could be linked to the metabolic state of the cell. Over the course of evolution, bringing new processes under the control of sirtuins could enable species to evolve novel responses to stresses that lower NAD(+) levels. Here, we explore this hypothesis by examining how sirtuins contribute to the biology of a variety of fungal species.