Gábor Nagy

This paper addresses the complex causal mechanisms of socio-spatial transitions and regional inequalities. We placed the industrial restructuring of small towns in the focus to grasp the transformative impact of productive capital and state agency on labour mobility and incomes in peripheral regions. We consider small towns as laboratories of peripheral industrialisation in the accumulation regime which unfolded after the global financial crisis, and discuss how technological change, postcrisis institutional fixes and local processes intersected, entailing not only diverse development paths, but new patterns of social inequalities and fragmentation in Central and Eastern Europe. We adopted a geographical political economic approach and mobilised Doreen Massey’s place concept to relate the social transformation in small towns to macro-scale processes of capital accumulation. The key argument is that in the post-crisis institutional fix, small towns emerged as important scenes to job-making and mobilising labour assets, and such processes had unintended consequences. In this paper, we highlight two powerful outcomes, i.e. (i) new patterns of inequalities within the small town network and also in urban-rural relations; moreover (ii), the reproduction of multiple external dependencies (peripherality) of non-metropolitan spaces. The argumentation rests on the statistical analysis of socio-economic indicators of 168 small towns (each of 5-30 thousand inhabitants) in the pre- and post-financial crisis (2001–2022) periods. The spatial focus is on Hungary, where the rapid and thorough centralisation of power to take control over local resources entailed a radical shift in geographical patterns and also in the agency of local economic restructuring. The statistical analysis highlights the structural changes in local labour markets and commuting patterns, income inequalities and population dynamics at a local scale; in this way, we can get a more fine-grained understanding how place-making through peripheral industrialisation and socio-spatial inequalities are related.

Volatile organic compound (VOC)-mediated communication between distinct fungal colonies is a crucial yet poorly understood aspect of interspecies interactions. We investigated the airborne interactions between Trichoderma atroviride (SZMC 24276) and haploid Armillaria ostoyae (SZMC 23085) hyphae using an in vitro face-off system that combined transcriptomic and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses. Distinct temporal VOC profiles were observed, including the early accumulation of the constitutively produced 6-pentyl-α-pyrone (6-PP) and the later appearance of 2-heptanone from T. atroviride, as well as the production of an interaction-specific cadinane-type sesquiterpene in A. ostoyae. Multi-omics integration revealed a direct coupling between transcriptional regulation and volatile output, with suppression of C8 signaling compounds such as 1-octen-3-ol and non-ribosomal peptide synthetase-associated pathways in T. atroviride under volatile exposure. In contrast, A. ostoyae exhibited extensive transcriptional reprogramming characterized by oxidative stress responses, detoxification pathways, and activation of terpene biosynthetic clusters. These findings indicate that T. atroviride constitutively produces 6-PP as a broad-spectrum volatile irritant and modulates its secondary metabolism in a context-dependent manner, while A. ostoyae responds to volatile cues through stress-associated and defensive mechanisms. Overall, this study demonstrates that VOCs function as active regulators of interactions before physical contact, shaping both metabolic and transcriptional responses, and highlights their potential role in Trichoderma-based biocontrol strategies against Armillaria.

Mucormycosis is a life-threatening infection caused by certain members of the fungal order Mucorales, with increased incidence in recent years. Individuals with untreated diabetes mellitus, and patients treated with deferoxamine are particularly susceptible to this infection. Elevated free iron concentrations in serum contribute to the development of mucormycosis. Pathogenic fungi have evolved multiple mechanisms to acquire and utilize free iron or extract it from the various iron-binding molecules within the host. The utilization of hydroxamate siderophores as xenosiderophores may contribute to the development of mucormycosis. The genome of Mucor lusitanicus encodes one Sit1 siderophore transporter. In this study, the role of the sit1 gene was characterized by generating knockout mutants using CRISPR-Cas9. Relative transcript level of the sit1 gene significantly increased in the presence of deferoxamine- and deferasirox-iron complexes. Lack of sit1 resulted in altered germination of spores and growth ability, and decreased virulence. Furthermore, absence of the gene caused elevated transcript levels of a ferric reductase (FRE), a low-affinity iron permease (FET4) and a copper dependent iron oxidase (FET3). Our result suggests that expressions of the genes involved in iron uptake affect each other. The lack of Sit1 resulted in an increased transcript level of the FRE3 gene, which may be able to reduce iron from the siderophore-iron complex. The reduced and liberated iron may be then taken up by activated FET4a. This study highlights the significance of understanding the iron acquisition mechanisms of pathogenic fungi to develop effective treatments for fungal infections.

Survival factor 1 (Svf1) protein has been described in some ascomycetous fungi where it was found to be contributing to several essential physiological processes, such as response to osmotic, oxidative and cold stresses, sphingolipid biosynthesis, morphogenesis, sporulation, antifungal resistance, and pathogenicity. It was also suggested that it can be a novel central regulator affecting the expression of various genes. In the present study, function of this protein and the encoding genes is described for the first time in a fungus (i.e., in Mucor lusitanicus ) belonging to the order Mucorales. M. lusitanicus has two putative svf1 genes named svf1a and svf1b . Expression of both genes was proven. Although the expression of svf1a was affected by several environmental stresses and knocking out the gene affected adaptation to low temperatures and the sporulation ability, the main survival factor functions, such as participation in the maintenance of the viability, the response to oxidative and cold stresses, and the sphingolipid biosynthesis, could be associated with Svf1b, suggesting a central regulatory role to this protein. Interestingly, knockout of both genes affected the pathogenicity of the fungus in a Drosophila model. IMPORTANCE: Mucor lusitanicus is a widely used model organism to study various biological processes in the basal fungal group Mucorales. Several members of this group can be agents of mucormycosis, an opportunistic fungal infection, which is associated with high mortality, rapid progression, and wide resistance to the commonly used antifungal agents. Svf1 proteins have so far only been identified in fungi, where they have been involved in pathogenicity and resistance to antifungal agents in many cases. Only a limited number of factors affecting the stress response, antifungal resistance, and virulence of Mucorales fungi have been revealed. Elucidating the function of a fungus-specific protein that may regulate these processes may bring us closer to understanding the pathogenesis of these fungi.

Armillaria species can survive for decades in the soil on dead woody debris, develop rapidly under favorable conditions, and harmfully infect newly planted forests. Our previous study found Trichoderma atroviride to be highly effective in controlling Armillaria growth; therefore, our current work explored the molecular mechanisms that might play a key role in Trichoderma-Armillaria interactions.

The fungal membrane contains ergosterol instead of cholesterol, which offers a specific point of attack for the defense against pathogenic fungi. Indeed, most antifungal agents target ergosterol or its biosynthesis.

Mucor lusitanicus and some other members of the fungal order Mucorales display the phenomenon of morphological dimorphism. This means that these fungi aerobically produce filamentous hyphae, developing a coenocytic mycelium, but they grow in a multipolar yeast-like form under anaerobiosis. Revealing the molecular mechanism of the reversible yeast-hyphal transition can be interesting for both the biotechnological application and in the understanding of the pathomechanism of mucormycosis. In the present study, transcriptomic analyses were carried out after cultivating the fungus either aerobically or anaerobically revealing significant changes in gene expression under the two conditions. In total, 539 differentially expressed genes (FDR < 0.05, |log₂FC| ≥ 3) were identified, including 190 upregulated and 349 downregulated transcripts. Within the metabolism-related genes, carbohydrate metabolism was proven to be especially affected. Anaerobiosis also affected the transcription of transporters: among the 14 up- and 42 downregulated transporters, several putative sugar transporters were detected. Moreover, a considerable number of transcripts related to amino acid transport and metabolism, lipid transport and metabolism, and energy production and conversion were proven to be downregulated when the culture had been transferred into an anaerobic atmosphere.

Mucormycosis is a life-threatening opportunistic infection caused by certain members of the fungal order Mucorales. This infection is associated with high mortality rate, which can reach nearly 100% depending on the underlying condition of the patient. Treatment of mucormycosis is challenging because these fungi are intrinsically resistant to most of the routinely used antifungal agents, such as most of the azoles. One possible mechanism of azole resistance is the drug efflux catalyzed by members of the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily. The pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) transporter subfamily of ABC transporters is the most closely associated to drug resistance. The genome of Mucor circinelloides encodes eight putative PDR-type transporters. In this study, transcription of the eight pdr genes has been analyzed after azole treatment. Only the pdr1 showed increased transcript level in response to all tested azoles. Deletion of this gene caused increased susceptibility to posaconazole, ravuconazole and isavuconazole and altered growth ability of the mutant. In the pdr1 deletion mutant, transcript level of pdr2 and pdr6 significantly increased. Deletion of pdr2 and pdr6 was also done to create single and double knock out mutants for the three genes. After deletion of pdr2 and pdr6, growth ability of the mutant strains decreased, while deletion of pdr2 resulted in increased sensitivity against posaconazole, ravuconazole and isavuconazole. Our result suggests that the regulation of the eight pdr genes is interconnected and pdr1 and pdr2 participates in the resistance of the fungus to posaconazole, ravuconazole and isavuconazole.

β-Galactosidases of Mucoromycota are rarely studied, although this group of filamentous fungi is an excellent source of many industrial enzymes. In this study, 99 isolates from the genera Lichtheimia, Mortierella, Mucor, Rhizomucor, Rhizopus and Umbelopsis, were screened for their β-galactosidase activity using a chromogenic agar approach. Ten isolates from the best producers were selected, and the activity was further investigated in submerged (SmF) and solid-state (SSF) fermentation systems containing lactose and/or wheat bran substrates as enzyme production inducers. Wheat bran proved to be efficient for the enzyme production under both SmF and SSF conditions, giving maximum specific activity yields from 32 to 12,064 U/mg protein and from 783 to 22,720 U/mg protein, respectively. Oligosaccharide synthesis tests revealed the suitability of crude β-galactosidases from Lichtheimia ramosa Szeged Microbiological Collection (SZMC) 11360 and Rhizomucor pusillus SZMC 11025 to catalyze transgalactosylation reactions. In addition, the crude enzyme extracts had transfructosylation activity, resulting in the formation of fructo-oligosaccharide molecules in a sucrose-containing environment. The maximal oligosaccharide concentration varied between 0.0158 and 2.236 g/L depending on the crude enzyme and the initial material. Some oligosaccharide-enriched mixtures supported the growth of probiotics, indicating the potential of the studied enzyme extracts in future prebiotic synthesis processes.