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Overexpression of White Collar‐1 (WC‐1) activates circadian clock‐associated genes, but is not sufficient to induce most light‐regulated gene expression in Neurospora crassa

Many processes in fungi are regulated by light, but the molecular mechanisms are not well understood. The White Collar‐1 (WC‐1) protein is required for all known blue‐light responses in Neurospora crassa. In response to light, WC‐1 levels increase, and the protein is transiently phosphorylated. To test the hypothesis that the increase in WC‐1 levels after light treatment is sufficient to activate light‐regulated gene expression, we used microarrays to identify genes that respond to light treatment. We then overexpressed WC‐1 in dark‐grown tissue and used the microarrays to identify genes regulated by an increase in WC‐1 levels. We found that 3% of the genes were responsive to light, whereas 7% of the genes were responsive to WC‐1 overexpression in the dark. However, only four out of 22 light‐induced genes were also induced by WC‐1 overexpression, demonstrating that changes in the levels of WC‐1 are not sufficient to activate all light‐responsive genes. The WC proteins are also required for circadian rhythms in dark‐grown cultures and for light entrainment of the circadian clock, and WC‐1 protein levels show a circadian rhythm in the dark. We found that representative samples of the mRNAs induced by over‐expression of WC‐1 show circadian fluctuations in their levels. These data suggest that WC‐1 can mediate both light and circadian responses, with an increase in WC‐1 levels affecting circadian clock‐responsive gene regulation and other features of WC‐1, possibly its phosphorylation, affecting light‐responsive gene regulation.