Trichoderma reesei Nsd3 transcription factor: pleiotropic roles in development, stress response, secondary metabolism, and cellulase production [ATAC-seq]

Loss of nsd3 leads to a faster and more robust induction of cellulolytic genes and higher cellulase and hemicellulase activities. Transcriptional profiling by RNA-Seq and chromatin accessibility profiling by ATAC-Seq showed that sugar transporters are important targets of Nsd3 during cellulase expression regulation. Combined with microscopy and gene expression analyses, the ATAC-Seq data also highlighted Nsd3 as a central regulator of cell wall remodeling and organization.

Furthermore, the transcriptomics also showed that Nsd3 regulates genes involved in secondary metabolism. These results showed that Nsd3 regulates several physiological processes and provide novel insights into the regulatory system of cellulases in T. reesei that can be used in the design of high-performance strains for biorefinery.