cAMP activates calcium signalling via phospholipase C to regulate cellulase production in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei

BACKGROUND: The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is one of the best producers of cellulase and has been widely studied for the production of cellulosic ethanol and bio-based products. We previously reported that Mn(2+) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) can stimulate cellulase overexpression via Ca(2+) bursts and calcium signalling in T. reesei under cellulase-inducing conditions. To further understand the regulatory networks involved in cellulase overexpression in T. reesei, we characterised the Mn(2+)/DMF-induced calcium signalling pathway involved in the stimulation of cellulase overexpression. RESULTS: We found that Mn(2+)/DMF stimulation significantly increased the intracellular levels of cAMP in an adenylate cyclase (ACY1)-dependent manner. Deletion of acy1 confirmed that cAMP is crucial for the Mn(2+)/DMF-stimulated cellulase overexpression in T. reesei. We further revealed that cAMP elevation induces a cytosolic Ca(2+) burst, thereby initiating the Ca(2+) signal transduction pathway in T. reesei, and that cAMP signalling causes the Ca(2+) signalling pathway to regulate cellulase production in T. reesei. Furthermore, using a phospholipase C encoding gene plc-e deletion strain, we showed that the plc-e gene is vital for cellulase overexpression in response to stimulation by both Mn(2+) and DMF, and that cAMP induces a Ca(2+) burst through PLC-E. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study reveal the presence of a signal transduction pathway in which Mn(2+)/DMF stimulation produces cAMP. Increase in the levels of cAMP activates the calcium signalling pathway via phospholipase C to regulate cellulase overexpression under cellulase-inducing conditions. These findings provide insights into the molecular mechanism of the cAMP–PLC–calcium signalling pathway underlying cellulase expression in T. reesei and highlight the potential applications of signal transduction in the regulation of gene expression in fungi. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13068-021-01914-0.