Characterizations and functions of regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) in fungi

Abstract

Proteins that serve as regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) primarily function as GTPase accelerators that promote GTP hydrolysis by the Gα subunits, thereby inactivating the G protein and rapidly switching off G protein-coupled signaling pathways. Since the first RGS protein was identified from the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, more than 30 RGS and RGS-like proteins have been characterized from several model fungi, such as Aspergillus nidulans, Beauveria bassiana, Candida albicans, Fusarium verticillioides, Magnaporthe oryzae, and Metarhizium anisopliae. In this review, the partial biochemical properties and functional domains of RGS and RGS-like proteins were predicted and compared, and the roles of RGS and RGS-like proteins in different fungi were summarized. Moreover, the phylogenetic relationship among RGS and RGS-like proteins from various fungi was analyzed and discussed.