151
|
Zhou S, Zhang P, Zhou H, Liu X, Li SM, Guo L, Li K, Yin WB. A new regulator RsdA mediating fungal secondary metabolism has a detrimental impact on asexual development in Pestalotiopsis fici. Environ Microbiol 2018; 21:416-426. [PMID: 30421486 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2018] [Revised: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 11/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Secondary metabolite (SM) production and development are correlated processes in fungi that are often coordinated by pleiotropic regulators. The eukaryotic regulators are critical players in mediating SM production related to fungal development, yet little data are available to support this hypothesis. In this study, a global regulator, RsdA (regulation of secondary metabolism and development), was identified through genome-wide analysis and deletion of the regulator gene in the endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis fici. Here, we established that RsdA regulation of SMs is accompanied by the repression of asexual development. Deletion of rsdA significantly reduces not only asexual development, resulting in low sporulation and abnormal conidia, but also the major SM production, while remarkably increasing the melanin production. Overproduction of melanin leads to the formation of unusual, heavily pigmented hyphae. Transcriptome analysis data provide the evidence that RsdA globally regulates genes involved in secondary metabolism and asexual development. Double deletion of rsdA and the melanin polyketide synthase gene PfmaE confirm that RsdA regulation of asexual development is independent of the melanin biosynthetic pathway. Finally, our results demonstrate that RsdA can be used for the discovery of secondary metabolites in filamentous fungi.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.,Savaid Medical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Peng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.,Savaid Medical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Haichuan Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.,Savaid Medical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Xingzhong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Shu-Ming Li
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Biotechnologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Robert-Koch-Straße 4, 35037, Marburg, Germany
| | - Liangdong Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Kuan Li
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Wen-Bing Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.,Savaid Medical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
152
|
UrdA Controls Secondary Metabolite Production and the Balance between Asexual and Sexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans. Genes (Basel) 2018; 9:genes9120570. [PMID: 30477161 PMCID: PMC6316066 DOI: 10.3390/genes9120570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2018] [Revised: 11/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The genus Aspergillus includes important plant pathogens, opportunistic human pathogens and mycotoxigenic fungi. In these organisms, secondary metabolism and morphogenesis are subject to a complex genetic regulation. Here we functionally characterized urdA, a gene encoding a putative helix-loop-helix (HLH)-type regulator in the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. urdA governs asexual and sexual development in strains with a wild-type veA background; absence of urdA resulted in severe morphological alterations, with a significant reduction of conidial production and an increase in cleistothecial formation, even in the presence of light, a repressor of sex. The positive effect of urdA on conidiation is mediated by the central developmental pathway (CDP). However, brlA overexpression was not sufficient to restore wild-type conidiation in the ΔurdA strain. Heterologous complementation of ΔurdA with the putative Aspergillus flavus urdA homolog also failed to rescue conidiation wild-type levels, indicating that both genes perform different functions, probably reflected by key sequence divergence. UrdA also represses sterigmatocystin (ST) toxin production in the presence of light by affecting the expression of aflR, the activator of the ST gene cluster. Furthermore, UrdA regulates the production of several unknown secondary metabolites, revealing a broader regulatory scope. Interestingly, UrdA affects the abundance and distribution of the VeA protein in hyphae, and our genetics studies indicated that veA appears epistatic to urdA regarding ST production. However, the distinct fluffy phenotype of the ΔurdAΔveA double mutant suggests that both regulators conduct independent developmental roles. Overall, these results suggest that UrdA plays a pivotal role in the coordination of development and secondary metabolism in A. nidulans.
Collapse
|
153
|
Zhang D, He JY, Haddadi P, Zhu JH, Yang ZH, Ma L. Genome sequence of the potato pathogenic fungus Alternaria solani HWC-168 reveals clues for its conidiation and virulence. BMC Microbiol 2018; 18:176. [PMID: 30400851 PMCID: PMC6219093 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-018-1324-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alternaria solani is a known air-born deuteromycete fungus with a polycyclic life cycle and is the causal agent of early blight that causes significant yield losses of potato worldwide. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the conidiation and pathogenicity remain largely unknown. RESULTS We produced a high-quality genome assembly of A. solani HWC-168 that was isolated from a major potato-producing region of Northern China, which facilitated a comprehensive gene annotation, the accurate prediction of genes encoding secreted proteins and identification of conidiation-related genes. The assembled genome of A. solani HWC-168 has a genome size 32.8 Mb and encodes 10,358 predicted genes that are highly similar with related Alternaria species including Alternaria arborescens and Alternaria brassicicola. We identified conidiation-related genes in the genome of A. solani HWC-168 by searching for sporulation-related homologues identified from Aspergillus nidulans. A total of 975 secreted protein-encoding genes, which might act as virulence factors, were identified in the genome of A. solani HWC-168. The predicted secretome of A. solani HWC-168 possesses 261 carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZy), 119 proteins containing RxLx[EDQ] motif and 27 secreted proteins unique to A. solani. CONCLUSIONS Our findings will facilitate the identification of conidiation- and virulence-related genes in the genome of A. solani. This will permit new insights into understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the A. solani-potato pathosystem and will add value to the global fungal genome database.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dai Zhang
- Center of Plant Disease and Plant Pests of Hebei Province, College of Plant Protection, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001 China
| | - Jia-Yu He
- Center of Plant Disease and Plant Pests of Hebei Province, College of Plant Protection, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001 China
| | - Parham Haddadi
- Saskatoon Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon, SK S7N0X2 Canada
| | - Jie-Hua Zhu
- Center of Plant Disease and Plant Pests of Hebei Province, College of Plant Protection, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001 China
| | - Zhi-Hui Yang
- Center of Plant Disease and Plant Pests of Hebei Province, College of Plant Protection, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001 China
| | - Lisong Ma
- Center of Plant Disease and Plant Pests of Hebei Province, College of Plant Protection, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001 China
| |
Collapse
|
154
|
Cai Q, Wang JJ, Shao W, Ying SH, Feng MG. Rtt109-dependent histone H3 K56 acetylation and gene activity are essential for the biological control potential of Beauveria bassiana. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2018; 74:2626-2635. [PMID: 29704296 DOI: 10.1002/ps.5054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2018] [Revised: 03/28/2018] [Accepted: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rtt109 is a histone acetyltransferase that catalyzes histone H3K56 acetylation required for genomic stability, DNA damage repair and virulence-related gene activity in yeast-like human pathogens but remains functionally unknown in fungal insect pathogens. This study seeks to elucidate the catalytic activity of a Rtt109 orthologue and its possible role in sustaining the biological control potential of Beauveria bassiana, a fungal entomopathogen. RESULTS Deletion of rtt109 in B. bassiana abolished histone H3K56 acetylation and triggered histone H2A-S129 phosphorylation. Consequently, the deletion mutant showed increased sensitivity to the stresses of DNA damage, oxidation, cell wall perturbation, high osmolarity and heat shock during colony growth, severe conidiation defects under normal culture conditions, reduced conidial hydrophobicity, decreased conidial UV-B resistance, and attenuated virulence through normal cuticle infection. These phenotypic changes correlated well with reduced transcript levels of many genes that encode the families of H2A-S129 dephosphorylation-related protein phosphatases, DNA damage-repairing factors, antioxidant enzymes, heat-shock proteins, key developmental activators, hydrophobins and cuticle-degrading Pr1 proteases respectively. CONCLUSION Rtt109 can acetylate H3K56 and dephosphorylate H2A-S129 in direct and indirect ways respectively, and hence has an essential role in sustaining the genomic stability and global gene activity required for conidiation capacity, environmental fitness and pest control potential in B. bassiana. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qing Cai
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Juan-Juan Wang
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China
- School of Biological Science and Biotechnology, University of Jinan, Jinan, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Shao
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
155
|
Leesutthiphonchai W, Judelson HS. A MADS-box transcription factor regulates a central step in sporulation of the oomycete Phytophthora infestans. Mol Microbiol 2018; 110:562-575. [PMID: 30194883 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.14114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2018] [Revised: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 08/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
MADS-box transcription factors play significant roles in eukaryotes, but have not yet been characterized in oomycetes. Here, we describe a MADS-box protein from Phytophthora infestans, which causes late blight of potato. P. infestans and most other oomycetes express a single MADS-box gene. PiMADS is not transcribed during vegetative growth, but is induced early during asexual sporulation. Its mRNA levels oscillate in response to light, which suppresses sporulation. The protein was not detected in nonsporulating mycelia, but was found in sporulating mycelia and spores. Both mRNA and protein levels decline upon spore germination. A similar expression pattern as well as nuclear localization was observed when the protein was expressed with a fluorescent tag from the native promoter. Gene silencing triggered by a construct expressing 478 nt of MADS sequences indicated that PiMADS is required for sporulation but not hyphal growth or plant colonization. A comparison of wild type to a silenced strain by RNA-seq indicated that PiMADS regulates about 3000 sporulation-associated genes, and acts before other genes previously shown to regulate sporulation. Analysis of the silenced strain also indicated that the native gene was not transcribed while the transgene was still expressed, which contradicts current models for homology-dependent silencing in oomycetes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Howard S Judelson
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| |
Collapse
|
156
|
Abstract
Aspergillus nidulans has long-been used as a model organism to gain insights into the genetic basis of asexual and sexual developmental processes both in other members of the genus Aspergillus, and filamentous fungi in general. Paradigms have been established concerning the regulatory mechanisms of conidial development. However, recent studies have shown considerable genome divergence in the fungal kingdom, questioning the general applicability of findings from Aspergillus, and certain longstanding evolutionary theories have been questioned. The phylogenetic distribution of key regulatory elements of asexual reproduction in A. nidulans was investigated in a broad taxonomic range of fungi. This revealed that some proteins were well conserved in the Pezizomycotina (e.g. AbaA, FlbA, FluG, NsdD, MedA, and some velvet proteins), suggesting similar developmental roles. However, other elements (e.g. BrlA) had a more restricted distribution solely in the Eurotiomycetes, and it appears that the genetic control of sporulation seems to be more complex in the aspergilli than in some other taxonomic groups of the Pezizomycotina. The evolution of the velvet protein family is discussed based on the history of expansion and contraction events in the early divergent fungi. Heterologous expression of the A. nidulans abaA gene in Monascus ruber failed to induce development of complete conidiophores as seen in the aspergilli, but did result in increased conidial production. The absence of many components of the asexual developmental pathway from members of the Saccharomycotina supports the hypothesis that differences in the complexity of their spore formation is due in part to the increased diversity of the sporulation machinery evident in the Pezizomycotina. Investigations were also made into the evolution of sex and sexuality in the aspergilli. MAT loci were identified from the heterothallic Aspergillus (Emericella) heterothallicus and Aspergillus (Neosartorya) fennelliae and the homothallic Aspergillus pseudoglaucus (=Eurotium repens). A consistent architecture of the MAT locus was seen in these and other heterothallic aspergilli whereas much variation was seen in the arrangement of MAT loci in homothallic aspergilli. This suggested that it is most likely that the common ancestor of the aspergilli exhibited a heterothallic breeding system. Finally, the supposed prevalence of asexuality in the aspergilli was examined. Investigations were made using A. clavatus as a representative 'asexual' species. It was possible to induce a sexual cycle in A. clavatus given the correct MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 partners and environmental conditions, with recombination confirmed utilising molecular markers. This indicated that sexual reproduction might be possible in many supposedly asexual aspergilli and beyond, providing general insights into the nature of asexuality in fungi.
Collapse
|
157
|
|
158
|
Transcription Factor NsdD Regulates the Expression of Genes Involved in Plant Biomass-Degrading Enzymes, Conidiation, and Pigment Biosynthesis in Penicillium oxalicum. Appl Environ Microbiol 2018; 84:AEM.01039-18. [PMID: 29980558 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01039-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2018] [Accepted: 06/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Soil fungi produce a wide range of chemical compounds and enzymes with potential for applications in medicine and biotechnology. Cellular processes in soil fungi are highly dependent on the regulation under environmentally induced stress, but most of the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Previous work identified a key GATA-type transcription factor, Penicillium oxalicum NsdD (PoxNsdD; also called POX08415), that regulates the expression of cellulase and xylanase genes in P. oxalicum PoxNsdD shares 57 to 64% identity with the key activator NsdD, involved in asexual development in Aspergillus In the present study, the regulatory roles of PoxNsdD in P. oxalicum were further explored. Comparative transcriptomic profiling revealed that PoxNsdD regulates major genes involved in starch, cellulose, and hemicellulose degradation, as well as conidiation and pigment biosynthesis. Subsequent experiments confirmed that a ΔPoxNsdD strain lost 43.9 to 78.8% of starch-digesting enzyme activity when grown on soluble corn starch, and it produced 54.9 to 146.0% more conidia than the ΔPoxKu70 parental strain. During cultivation, ΔPoxNsdD cultures changed color, from pale orange to brick red, while the ΔPoxKu70 cultures remained bluish white. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR showed that PoxNsdD dynamically regulated the expression of a glucoamylase gene (POX01356/Amy15A), an α-amylase gene (POX09352/Amy13A), and a regulatory gene (POX03890/amyR), as well as a polyketide synthase gene (POX01430/alb1/wA) for yellow pigment biosynthesis and a conidiation-regulated gene (POX06534/brlA). Moreover, in vitro binding experiments showed that PoxNsdD bound the promoter regions of the above-described genes. This work provides novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms of fungal cellular processes and may assist in genetic engineering of Poxalicum for potential industrial and medical applications.IMPORTANCE Most filamentous fungi produce a vast number of extracellular enzymes that are used commercially for biorefineries of plant biomass to produce biofuels and value-added chemicals, which might promote the transition to a more environmentally friendly economy. The expression of these extracellular enzyme genes is tightly controlled at the transcriptional level, which limits their yields. Hitherto our understanding of the regulation of expression of plant biomass-degrading enzyme genes in filamentous fungi has been rather limited. In the present study, regulatory roles of a key regulator, PoxNsdD, were further explored in the soil fungus Penicillium oxalicum, contributing to the understanding of gene regulation in filamentous fungi and revealing the biotechnological potential of Poxalicum via genetic engineering.
Collapse
|
159
|
Systematic Dissection of the Evolutionarily Conserved WetA Developmental Regulator across a Genus of Filamentous Fungi. mBio 2018; 9:mBio.01130-18. [PMID: 30131357 PMCID: PMC6106085 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01130-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Asexual sporulation is fundamental to the ecology and lifestyle of filamentous fungi and can facilitate both plant and human infection. In Aspergillus, the production of asexual spores is primarily governed by the BrlA→AbaA→WetA regulatory cascade. The final step in this cascade is controlled by the WetA protein and governs not only the morphological differentiation of spores but also the production and deposition of diverse metabolites into spores. While WetA is conserved across the genus Aspergillus, the structure and degree of conservation of the wetA gene regulatory network (GRN) remain largely unknown. We carried out comparative transcriptome analyses of comparisons between wetA null mutant and wild-type asexual spores in three representative species spanning the diversity of the genus Aspergillus: A. nidulans, A. flavus, and A. fumigatus. We discovered that WetA regulates asexual sporulation in all three species via a negative-feedback loop that represses BrlA, the cascade’s first step. Furthermore, data from chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) experiments in A. nidulans asexual spores suggest that WetA is a DNA-binding protein that interacts with a novel regulatory motif. Several global regulators known to bridge spore production and the production of secondary metabolites show species-specific regulatory patterns in our data. These results suggest that the BrlA→AbaA→WetA cascade’s regulatory role in cellular and chemical asexual spore development is functionally conserved but that the wetA-associated GRN has diverged during Aspergillus evolution. The formation of resilient spores is a key factor contributing to the survival and fitness of many microorganisms, including fungi. In the fungal genus Aspergillus, spore formation is controlled by a complex gene regulatory network that also impacts a variety of other processes, including secondary metabolism. To gain mechanistic insights into how fungal spore formation is controlled across Aspergillus, we dissected the gene regulatory network downstream of a major regulator of spore maturation (WetA) in three species that span the diversity of the genus: the genetic model A. nidulans, the human pathogen A. fumigatus, and the aflatoxin producer A. flavus. Our data show that WetA regulates asexual sporulation in all three species via a negative-feedback loop and likely binds a novel regulatory element that we term the WetA response element (WRE). These results shed light on how gene regulatory networks in microorganisms control important biological processes and evolve across diverse species.
Collapse
|
160
|
Tiley AMM, Foster GD, Bailey AM. Exploring the Genetic Regulation of Asexual Sporulation in Zymoseptoria tritici. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:1859. [PMID: 30154771 PMCID: PMC6102487 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/24/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Zymoseptoria tritici is the causal agent of septoria tritici blotch, a devastating fungal disease of wheat which can cause up to 40% yield loss. One of the ways in which Z. tritici spreads in the field is via rain splash-dispersed asexual pycnidiospores, however there is currently limited understanding of the genetic mechanisms governing the development of these propagules. In order to explore whether the existing models for conidiation in ascomycete fungi apply to Z. tritici, homologs to the well-characterized Aspergillus nidulans genes abacus (abaA), bristle (brlA), fluffy B (flbB), fluffy C (flbC), and stunted (stuA) were identified and knocked-out by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Although deletion of the ZtAbaA, ZtBrlA1, and ZtFlbB genes had no apparent effect on Z. tritici asexual sporulation or on pathogenicity, deletion of ZtFlbC or ZtBrlA2 resulted in mutants with reduced pycnidiospore production compared to the parental IPO323 strain. Deletion of ZtStuA gave non-pigmented mutants with altered vegetative growth and eliminated asexual sporulation and pathogenicity. These findings suggest that the well-established A. nidulans model of asexual sporulation is only partially applicable to Z. tritici, and that this pathogen likely uses additional, as yet uncharacterized genes to control asexual sporulation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna M M Tiley
- Molecular Plant Pathology and Fungal Biology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Gary D Foster
- Molecular Plant Pathology and Fungal Biology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Andy M Bailey
- Molecular Plant Pathology and Fungal Biology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
161
|
Zhou G, Ying SH, Hu Y, Fang X, Feng MG, Wang J. Roles of Three HSF Domain-Containing Proteins in Mediating Heat-Shock Protein Genes and Sustaining Asexual Cycle, Stress Tolerance, and Virulence in Beauveria bassiana. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:1677. [PMID: 30090094 PMCID: PMC6068467 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Heat-shock transcription factors (HSFs) with a HSF domain are regulators of fungal heat-shock protein (HSP) genes and many others vectoring heat-shock elements, to which the domain binds in response to heat shock and other stress cues. The fungal insect pathogen Beauveria bassiana harbors three HSF domain-containing orthologous to Hsf1, Sfl1, and Skn7 in many fungi. Here, we show that the three proteins are interrelated at transcription level, play overlapping or opposite roles in activating different families of 28 HSP genes and mediate differential expression of some genes required for asexual developmental and intracellular Na+ homeostasis. Expression levels of skn7 and sfl1 largely increased in Δhsf1, which is evidently lethal in some other fungi. Hsf1 was distinct from Sfl1 and Skn7 in activating most HSP genes under normal and heat-shocked conditions. Sfl1 and Skn7 played overlapping roles in activating more than half of the HSP genes under heat shock. Each protein also activated a few HSP genes not targeted by two others under certain conditions. Deletion of sfl1 resulted in most severe growth defects on rich medium and several minimal media at optimal 25°C while such growth defects were less severe in Δhsf1 and minor in Δskn7. Conidiation level was lowered by 76% in Δskn7, 62% in Δsfl1, and 39% in Δhsf1. These deletion mutants also showed differential changes in cell wall integrity, antioxidant activity, virulence and cellular tolerance to osmotic salt, heat shock, and UV-B irradiation. These results provide a global insight into vital roles of Hsf1, Sfl1, and Skn7 in B. bassiana adaptation to environment and host.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gang Zhou
- College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Open Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangzhou, China.,Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yue Hu
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiang Fang
- College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jie Wang
- College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.,Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
162
|
Velvet domain protein VosA represses the zinc cluster transcription factor SclB regulatory network for Aspergillus nidulans asexual development, oxidative stress response and secondary metabolism. PLoS Genet 2018; 14:e1007511. [PMID: 30044771 PMCID: PMC6078315 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2017] [Revised: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The NF-κB-like velvet domain protein VosA (viability of spores) binds to more than 1,500 promoter sequences in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. VosA inhibits premature induction of the developmental activator gene brlA, which promotes asexual spore formation in response to environmental cues as light. VosA represses a novel genetic network controlled by the sclB gene. SclB function is antagonistic to VosA, because it induces the expression of early activator genes of asexual differentiation as flbC and flbD as well as brlA. The SclB controlled network promotes asexual development and spore viability, but is independent of the fungal light control. SclB interactions with the RcoA transcriptional repressor subunit suggest additional inhibitory functions on transcription. SclB links asexual spore formation to the synthesis of secondary metabolites including emericellamides, austinol as well as dehydroaustinol and activates the oxidative stress response of the fungus. The fungal VosA-SclB regulatory system of transcription includes a VosA control of the sclB promoter, common and opposite VosA and SclB control functions of fungal development and several additional regulatory genes. The relationship between VosA and SclB illustrates the presence of a convoluted surveillance apparatus of transcriptional control, which is required for accurate fungal development and the linkage to the appropriate secondary metabolism. Velvet domain proteins of filamentous fungi are structurally similar to Rel-homology domains of mammalian NF-κB proteins. Velvet and NF-κB proteins control regulatory circuits of downstream transcriptional networks for cellular differentiation, survival and stress responses. Velvet proteins interconnect developmental programs with secondary metabolism in fungi. The velvet protein VosA binds to more than ten percent of the Aspergillus nidulans promoters and is important for the spatial and temporal control of asexual spore formation from conidiophores. A novel VosA-dependent genetic network has been identified and is controlled by the zinc cluster protein SclB. Although zinc cluster proteins constitute one of the most abundant classes of transcription factors in fungi, only a small amount is characterized. SclB is a repression target of VosA and both transcription factors are part of a mutual control in the timely adjusted choreography of asexual sporulation in A. nidulans. SclB acts at the interphase of asexual development and secondary metabolism and interconnects both programs with an adequate oxidative stress response. This study underlines the complexity of different hierarchical levels of the fungal velvet protein transcriptional network for developmental programs and interconnected secondary metabolism.
Collapse
|
163
|
Hu Y, Yang G, Zhang D, Liu Y, Li Y, Lin G, Guo Z, Wang S, Zhuang Z. The PHD Transcription Factor Rum1 Regulates Morphogenesis and Aflatoxin Biosynthesis in Aspergillus flavus. Toxins (Basel) 2018; 10:toxins10070301. [PMID: 30036940 PMCID: PMC6070901 DOI: 10.3390/toxins10070301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2018] [Revised: 07/16/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Aspergillus flavus produces mycotoxins especially aflatoxin B1 and infects crops worldwide. As a PHD transcription factor, there is no report on the role of Rum1 in the virulence of Aspergillus spp. yet. This study explored the biological function of Rum1 in A. flavus through the construction of rum1 deletion mutants and rum1 complementation strains with the method of homologous recombination. It was found, in the study, that Rum1 negatively regulates conidiation through abaA and brlA, positively regulates sclerotia formation through nsdC, nsdD, and sclR, triggers aflatoxin biological synthesis, and enhances the activity of amylase. Our findings suggested that Rum1 plays a major role in the growth of mycelia, conidia, and sclerotia production along with aflatoxin biosynthesis in A. flavus.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yule Hu
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Guang Yang
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Danping Zhang
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Yaju Liu
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Yu Li
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
- Xiamen Genokon Medical Genokon Company, Xiamen 361115, China.
| | - Guanglan Lin
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Zhiqiang Guo
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Shihua Wang
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| | - Zhenhong Zhuang
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
| |
Collapse
|
164
|
Wang ZK, Cai Q, Tong SM, Ying SH, Feng MG. C-terminal Ser/Thr residues are vital for the regulatory role of Ste7 in the asexual cycle and virulence of Beauveria bassiana. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2018; 102:6973-6986. [PMID: 29948113 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-018-9148-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Revised: 05/27/2018] [Accepted: 05/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase Ste7 has a conserved Ser/Thr loop (S/T-X4(6)-S/T) that can activate the MAPK Fus3 or Kss1 for the regulation of pheromone response and filamentous growth in model yeast. Here, we show that not only the loop but also four C-terminal Ser/Thr residues are essential for Ste7 to function in the Fus3 cascade of Beauveria bassiana, a filamentous fungal insect pathogen. Mutagenesis of either looped S216/T220 or C-terminal S362 resulted in the same severe defects in conidial germination, hyphal growth, aerial conidiation, and submerged blastospore production as the ste7 deletion, followed by a complete loss of virulence and similarly increased cell sensitivities to osmotic salts, oxidants, heat shock and UV-B irradiation. Mutagenesis of three other Ser/Thr residues (S391, S440, and T485) also caused severe defects in most of the mentioned phenotypes. These defects correlated well with dramatically reduced transcript levels of some phenotype-related genes. These genes encode a transcription factor (CreA) essential for carbon/nitrogen assimilation, developmental activators (BrlA, AbaA, and WetA) and upstream transcription factor (FluG) required for conidiation, P-type N+/K+ ATPases (Ena1-5) required for intracellular N+/K+ homeostasis, and antioxidant enzymes involved in multiple stress responses. Our study unveils that the loop and four C-terminal Ser/Thr residues are all vital for the regulatory role of Ste7 in the growth, conidiation, virulence, and/or stress tolerance of B. bassiana and perhaps other filamentous fungi.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhi-Kang Wang
- Institute of Coastal Ecology, Ludong University, Yantai, 264025, Shandong, China.,Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310058, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qing Cai
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310058, Hangzhou, China
| | - Sen-Miao Tong
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310058, Hangzhou, China.,School of Agricultural and Food Science, Zhejiang A&F University, Lin'an, Zhejiang, 311300, China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310058, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310058, Hangzhou, China.
| |
Collapse
|
165
|
Yang W, Wu H, Wang Z, Sun Q, Qiao L, Huang B. The APSES Gene MrStuA Regulates Sporulation in Metarhizium robertsii. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:1208. [PMID: 29922271 PMCID: PMC5996154 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Accepted: 05/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The APSES family is a unique family of transcription factors with a basic helix-loop-helix structure (APSES: Asm1p, Phd1p, Sok2p, Efg1p, and StuAp), which are key regulators of cell development and sporulation-related processes. However, the functions of the APSES family of genes in the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium robertsii have not been reported. Here, we report the identification and characterization of the MrStuA gene, a member of the APSES family, in M. robertsii. The selected gene was identified as StuA in M. robertsii (MrStuA) because the gene product contains two conserved sequences, an APSES-type DNA-binding domain and a KilA DNA-binding domain, and has the highest homology with the StuA in the C-II clade of the APSES family. We found that the number of conidia produced by the ΔMrStuA strain was 94.45% lower than that in the wild type. Additionally, in the mutant, the conidia displayed an elongated shape, the sporulation was sparse and the phialide were slender. In addition, transcription levels of two central regulators of asexual development, AbaA and WetA, were significantly reduced in the mutant; furthermore, the transcription levels of other sporulation related genes, such as Mpk, Phi, Med, Aco, Flu, and FlbD, also decreased significantly. We also show that the median lethal time (LT50) of the mutant increased by 19%. This increase corresponded with a slower growth rate and an earlier conidia germination time compared to that of the wild strain. However, the resistance of the mutant to chemicals or physical stressors, such as ultraviolet radiation or heat, was not significantly altered. Our results indicate that in M. robertsii, MrStuA may play a crucial role in regulating sporulation as well as virulence, germination, and vegetative growth. This study improves our understanding of the impact of the transcription factor StuA on sporulation processes in filamentous fungi and provides a basis for further studies aimed at improving sporulation efficiency of these fungi for use as a biocontrol agent.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wenjing Yang
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Pest Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| | - Hao Wu
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Pest Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| | - Zhangxun Wang
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Pest Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.,School of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| | - Qian Sun
- School of Transportation Engineering, Anhui Sanlian University, Hefei, China
| | - Lintao Qiao
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Pest Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| | - Bo Huang
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Pest Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| |
Collapse
|
166
|
Olmedo M, Roenneberg T, Merrow M, Corrochano LM. Glucose sensing and light regulation: A mutation in the glucose sensor RCO-3 modifies photoadaptation in Neurospora crassa. Fungal Biol 2018; 122:497-504. [DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2017.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2017] [Revised: 10/10/2017] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
|
167
|
Cai Q, Wang ZK, Shao W, Ying SH, Feng MG. Essential role of Rpd3-dependent lysine modification in the growth, development and virulence of Beauveria bassiana. Environ Microbiol 2018; 20:1590-1606. [PMID: 29575704 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2017] [Revised: 03/07/2018] [Accepted: 03/08/2018] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Rpd3 is a class I histone deacetylase that reverses lysine acetylation thus influencing cellular processes and functions. However, its role in fungal insect pathogens has not been explored yet. Here we show that Rpd3-dependent lysine modification and gene expression orchestrate growth, conidiation and virulence in Beauveria bassiana. Deletion of Rpd3 resulted in severe growth defects on various carbon/nitrogen sources, 97% reduction in conidiation capacity and drastic attenuation in virulence. These phenotypes concurred with differential expression of 1479 proteins and hyperacetylation or hypoacetylation of 2227 lysine residues on 1134 proteins. Many of these proteins fell into carbon/nitrogen metabolism and cell rescue/defence/virulence, indicating vital roles of Rpd3-dependent protein expression and lysine modification in the fungal growth and virulence. Intriguingly, lysine residues of four core histones (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) and many histone acetyltransferases were also hyper- or hypoacetylated in Δrpd3, suggesting direct and indirect roles for Rpd3 in genome-wide lysine modification. However, crucial development activators were transcriptionally repressed and not found in either proteome or acetylome. Single/double-site-directed H3K9/K14 mutations for hyper/hypoacetylation exerted significant impacts on conidiation and dimorphic transition crucial for fungal virulence. Altogether, Rpd3 mediates growth, asexual development and virulence through transcriptional/translational regulation and posttranslational lysine modification in B. bassiana.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qing Cai
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Zhi-Kang Wang
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China.,Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, Shandong 250353, China
| | - Wei Shao
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| |
Collapse
|
168
|
Cai Q, Tong SM, Shao W, Ying SH, Feng MG. Pleiotropic effects of the histone deacetylase Hos2 linked to H4-K16 deacetylation, H3-K56 acetylation, and H2A-S129 phosphorylation in Beauveria bassiana. Cell Microbiol 2018. [PMID: 29543404 DOI: 10.1111/cmi.12839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Histone acetyltransferases and deacetylases maintain dynamics of lysine acetylation/deacetylation on histones and nonhistone substrates involved in gene regulation and cellular events. Hos2 is a Class I histone deacetylases that deacetylates unique histone H4-K16 site in yeasts. Here, we report that orthologous Hos2 deacetylates H4-K16 and is also involved in the acetylation of histone H3-K56 and the phosphorylation of histone H2A-S129 and cyclin-dependent kinase 1 CDK1-Y15 in Beauveria bassiana, a filamentous fungal insect pathogen. These site-specific modifications are evidenced with hyperacetylated H4-K16, hypoacetylated H3-K56, and both hypophosphorylated H2A-S129 and CDK1-Y15 in absence of hos2. Consequently, the Δhos2 mutant suffered increased sensitivities to DNA-damaging and oxidative stresses, disturbed cell cycle, impeded cytokinesis, increased cell size or length, reduced conidiation capacity, altered conidial properties, and attenuated virulence. These phenotypic changes correlated well with dramatic repression of many genes that are essential for DNA damage repair, G1 /S transition and DNA synthesis, hyphal septation, and asexual development. The uncovered ability for Hos2 to directly deacetylate H4-K16 and to indirectly modify H3-K56, H2A-S129, and CDK1-Y15 provides novel insight into more subtle regulatory role for Hos2 in genomic stability and diverse cellular events in the fungal insect pathogen than those revealed previously in nonentomophathogenic fungi.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qing Cai
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Sen-Miao Tong
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Shao
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
169
|
Yang X, Ma N, Yang L, Zheng Y, Zhen Z, Li Q, Xie M, Li J, Zhang KQ, Yang J. Two Rab GTPases play different roles in conidiation, trap formation, stress resistance, and virulence in the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2018; 102:4601-4613. [PMID: 29616315 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-018-8929-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 03/10/2018] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Rab GTPases are the largest group of the small GTPases family, which play a pivotal role in the secretion of proteins. Arthrobotrys oligospora is a representative nematode-trapping fungus that can produce adhesive networks to capture nematodes. In this study, the roles of two Rab GTPases AoRab-7A and AoRab-2 were characterized by gene knockout in the fungus A. oligospora. The disruption of AoRab-7A hindered the mycelial growth in different media, the conidiation of ΔAoRab-7A transformants was almost abolished, and the transcription of four sporulation-related genes (AbaA, FluG, Hyp1, and VosA) was downregulated compared to the wild-type strain (WT). Furthermore, the tolerance of the ΔAoRab-7A mutants to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and H2O2 was also significantly reduced compared to the WT, and the transcription of several genes related to environmental resistance, such as genes for catalase and trehalose synthase, was downregulated. Similarly, the extracellular proteolytic activity was decreased. Importantly, the ΔAoRab-7A mutants were unable to produce traps and capture nematodes. However, the disruption of gene AoRab-2 only affected the conidiation slightly but non-significantly, while other phenotypic traits were unaffected. Moreover, the gene AoRab-7A was also involved in the autophagy induced by nitrogen deprivation in A. oligospora. Our results revealed for the first time that the Rab GTPases are involved in the regulation of mycelial growth, conidiation, trap formation, stress resistance, and pathogenicity in the nematode-trapping fungus A. oligospora.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xuewei Yang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Ni Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Le Yang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Yaqing Zheng
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhengyi Zhen
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Qing Li
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Meihua Xie
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Juan Li
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Ke-Qin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China. .,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jinkui Yang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China. .,Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.
| |
Collapse
|
170
|
Cai Q, Wang JJ, Fu B, Ying SH, Feng MG. Gcn5-dependent histone H3 acetylation and gene activity is required for the asexual development and virulence of Beauveria bassiana. Environ Microbiol 2018; 20:1484-1497. [PMID: 29417710 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2017] [Revised: 01/31/2018] [Accepted: 02/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Gcn5 is a core histone acetyltransferase that catalyzes histone H3 acetylation on N-terminal lysine residues in yeasts and was reported to catalyze H3K9/K14 acetylation required for activating asexual development in Aspergillus. Here, we report a localization of Gcn5 ortholog in the nucleus and cytoplasm of Beauveria bassiana, a fungal insect pathogen. Deletion of gcn5 led to hypoacetylated H3 at K9/14/18/27 and 97% reduction in conidiation capacity as well as severe defects in colony growth and conidial thermotolerance. Two master conidiation genes, namely brlA and abaA, were transcriptionally repressed to undetectable level in Δgcn5, but sharply upregulated in wild-type, at the beginning time of conidiation. Based on chromatin immunoprecipitation, both DNA and acetylation levels of the distal and proximal fragments of the brlA promoter bound by acetylated H3K14 alone were upregulated in wild-type, but not in Δgcn5, at the mentioned time. In Δgcn5, normal cuticle infection was abolished while virulence through cuticle-bypassing infection was greatly attenuated, accompanied by drastically reduced activities of putative cuticle-degrading enzymes, retarded dimorphic transition and transcriptional repression of associated genes. These findings unveil a novel mechanism by which Gcn5 activates asexual development pathway by acetylating H3K14 and regulates the virulence-related cellular events in B. bassiana.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qing Cai
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Juan-Juan Wang
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, People's Republic of China.,School of Biological Science and Biotechnology, University of Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250022, People's Republic of China
| | - Bo Fu
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
171
|
Wang M, Yang X, Ruan R, Fu H, Li H. Csn5 Is Required for the Conidiogenesis and Pathogenesis of the Alternaria alternata Tangerine Pathotype. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:508. [PMID: 29616013 PMCID: PMC5870056 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2017] [Accepted: 03/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The COP9 signalosome (CSN) is a highly conserved protein complex involved in the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Its metalloisopeptidase activity resides in subunit 5 (CSN5). Functions of csn5 in phytopathogenic fungi are poorly understood. Here, we knocked out the csn5 ortholog (Aacsn5) in the tangerine pathotype of Alternaria alternata. The ΔAacsn5 mutant showed a moderately reduced growth rate compared to the wildtype strain and was unable to produce conidia. The growth of ΔAacsn5 mutant was not affected in response to oxidative and osmotic stresses. Virulence assays revealed that ΔAacsn5 induced no or significantly reduced necrotic lesions on detached citrus leaves. The defects in hyphal growth, conidial sporulation, and pathogenicity of ΔAacsn5 were restored by genetic complementation of the mutant with wildtype Aacsn5. To explore the molecular mechanisms of conidiation and pathogenesis underlying Aacsn5 regulation, we systematically examined the transcriptomes of both ΔAacsn5 and the wildtype. Generally, 881 genes were overexpressed and 777 were underexpressed in the ΔAacsn5 mutant during conidiation while 694 overexpressed and 993 underexpressed during infection. During asexual development, genes related to the transport processes and nitrogen metabolism were significantly downregulated; the expression of csn1-4 and csn7 in ΔAacsn5 was significantly elevated; secondary metabolism gene clusters were broadly affected; especially, the transcript level of the whole of cluster 28 and 30 was strongly induced. During infection, the expression of the host-specific ACT toxin gene cluster which controls the biosynthesis of the citrus specific toxin was significantly repressed; many other SM clusters with unknown products were also regulated; 86 out of 373 carbohydrate-active enzymes responsible for breaking down the plant dead tissues showed uniquely decreased expression. Taken together, our results expand our understanding of the roles of csn5 on conidiation and pathogenicity in plant pathogenic fungi and provide a foundation for future investigations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingshuang Wang
- Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiao Yang
- Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ruoxin Ruan
- Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Hangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China
| | - Huilan Fu
- Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hongye Li
- Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
172
|
Boni AC, Ambrósio DL, Cupertino FB, Montenegro-Montero A, Virgilio S, Freitas FZ, Corrocher FA, Gonçalves RD, Yang A, Weirauch MT, Hughes TR, Larrondo LF, Bertolini MC. Neurospora crassa developmental control mediated by the FLB-3 transcription factor. Fungal Biol 2018; 122:570-582. [PMID: 29801802 DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2018.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2017] [Revised: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/22/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Here, we report that the Neurospora crassa FLB-3 protein, the ortholog of the Aspergillus nidulans FlbC transcription factor, is required for developmental control. Deletion of flb-3 leads to changes in hyphae morphology and affects sexual and asexual development. We identified, as putative FLB-3 targets, the N. crassa aba-1, wet-1 and vos-1 genes, orthologs of the ones involved in A. nidulans asexual development and that work downstream of FlbC (abaA, wetA and vosA). In N. crassa, these three genes require FLB-3 for proper expression; however, they appear not to be required for normal development, as demonstrated by gene expression analyses during vegetative growth and asexual development. Moreover, mutant strains in the three genes conidiate well and produce viable conidia. We also determined FLB-3 DNA-binding preferences via protein-binding microarrays (PBMs) and demonstrated by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) that FLB-3 binds the aba-1, wet-1 and vos-1 promoters. Our data support an important role for FLB-3 in N. crassa development and highlight differences between the regulatory pathways controlled by this transcription factor in different fungal species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Carolina Boni
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Tecnologia Química, Instituto de Química, UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 14800-060, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Daniela Luz Ambrósio
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Tecnologia Química, Instituto de Química, UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 14800-060, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Barbosa Cupertino
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Tecnologia Química, Instituto de Química, UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 14800-060, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Alejandro Montenegro-Montero
- Millennium Institute for Integrative Systems and Synthetic Biology (MIISSB), Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Stela Virgilio
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Tecnologia Química, Instituto de Química, UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 14800-060, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Zanolli Freitas
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Tecnologia Química, Instituto de Química, UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 14800-060, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Flávia Adolfo Corrocher
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Tecnologia Química, Instituto de Química, UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 14800-060, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Duarte Gonçalves
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Tecnologia Química, Instituto de Química, UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 14800-060, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Ally Yang
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Matthew T Weirauch
- Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology (CAGE) and Divisions of Biomedical Informatics and Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Timothy R Hughes
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada; Canadian Institutes for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Luis F Larrondo
- Millennium Institute for Integrative Systems and Synthetic Biology (MIISSB), Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Maria Célia Bertolini
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Tecnologia Química, Instituto de Química, UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 14800-060, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.
| |
Collapse
|
173
|
The AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Homolog Snf1 Concerts Carbon Utilization, Conidia Production and the Biosynthesis of Secondary Metabolites in the Taxol-Producer Pestalotiopsis microspora. Genes (Basel) 2018; 9:genes9020059. [PMID: 29364863 PMCID: PMC5852555 DOI: 10.3390/genes9020059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2017] [Revised: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Highly conserved, the Snf1/AMPK is a central regulator of carbon metabolism and energy production in the eukaryotes. However, its function in filamentous fungi has not been well established. In this study, we reported functional characterization of Snf1/AMPK in the growth, development and secondary metabolism in the filamentous fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora. By deletion of the yeast SNF1 homolog, we found that it regulated the utilization of carbon sources, e.g., sucrose, demonstrating a conserved function of this kinase in filamentous fungus. Importantly, several novel functions of SNF1 were unraveled. For instance, the deletion strain displayed remarkable retardation in vegetative growth and pigmentation and produced a diminished number of conidia, even in the presence of the primary carbon source glucose. Deletion of the gene caused damages in the cell wall as shown by its hypersensitivities to Calcofluor white and Congo red, suggesting a critical role of Snf1 in maintaining cell wall integrity. Furthermore, the mutant strain Δsnf1 was hypersensitive to stress, e.g., osmotic pressure (1 M sorbitol), drug G418 and heat shock, though the mechanism remains to be illustrated. Significantly, disruption of the gene altered the production of secondary metabolites. By high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profiling, we found that Δsnf1 barely produced secondary metabolites, e.g., the known product pestalotiollide B. This study suggests that Snf1 is a key regulator in filamentous fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora concerting carbon metabolism and the filamentous growth, conidiation, cell wall integrity, stress tolerance and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.
Collapse
|
174
|
Hu Y, Qin Y, Liu G. Collection and Curation of Transcriptional Regulatory Interactions in Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa Reveal Structural and Evolutionary Features of the Regulatory Networks. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:27. [PMID: 29403467 PMCID: PMC5780447 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2017] [Accepted: 01/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional regulation has important roles in various biological processes (e.g., development and metabolism) in filamentous fungi. However, regulatory interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and their target genes in these species have only been described in different forms by primary scientific literature, which limits the integrated analysis of these data. Here, we extensively curated the reported transcriptional regulatory interactions in Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa. For each interaction, the identifiers of involved proteins or genes were unified, and the types of supporting experiments were recorded. Then, transcriptional regulatory networks were reconstructed from the interactions supported by classical low-throughput experiments. Analysis of the networks revealed the presence of hub targets regulated by multiple TFs and network motifs of other structures (e.g., regulatory loops). Comparison of the regulatory interactions between the two species identified 33 conserved interactions supported by classical experiments in both species, most of which are involved in the regulation of metabolic genes. We anticipate the curated data would serve as a catalog for the studies of transcriptional regulation in filamentous fungi.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yibo Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Science, Shandong University, Jinan, China.,Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Molecular Biology, State Key Laboratory of Developmental Biology of Freshwater Fish, College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Yuqi Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Science, Shandong University, Jinan, China.,National Glycoengineering Research Center, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Guodong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Science, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| |
Collapse
|
175
|
The histone acetyltransferase Mst2 sustains the biological control potential of a fungal insect pathogen through transcriptional regulation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2017; 102:1343-1355. [PMID: 29275430 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-017-8703-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Revised: 12/10/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Histone lysine acetylation orchestrates transcriptional activity essential for diverse cellular events across organisms, but it remains poorly understood how an acetylated lysine affects cellular functions in filamentous fungal pathogens. Here, we show the functions of a histone acetyltransferase that is phylogenetically close to Mst2 in fission yeast and specifically acetylates histone H3K14 in Beauveria bassiana, a fungal insect pathogen widely applied in arthropod pest management. Deletion of mst2 in B. bassiana resulted in moderate growth defects on rich and minimal media, delayed conidiation, and drastic reduction (75%) in conidiation capacity under normal culture conditions. The Δmst2 conidia suffered slower germination, decreased hydrophobicity, attenuated virulence, and reduced thermotolerance and UV-B resistance. The Δmst2 mutant also displayed increased sensitivities to DNA damaging, oxidative, cell wall perturbing, and osmotic stresses during conidial germination and colony growth at optimal 25 °C. Intriguingly, the phenotypic changes were accompanied with transcriptional repression of related gene sets, which are required for asexual development and conidial hydrophobicity or cascaded for CWI and HOG pathways, and encode the families of superoxide dismutases (SOD), catalases, heat-shock proteins, and trehalose or mannitol-metabolizing enzymes. Consequently, total SOD and catalase activities, trehalose and mannitol contents, and hydrophobicity were remarkably lowered in the hyphal cells or conidia of Δmst2. All of these changes were well restored by targeted mst2 complementation. Our results indicate that Mst2 enables to mediate global gene transcription and/or post-translation through H3K14 acetylation and plays an essential role in sustaining the biological control potential of B. bassiana against arthropod pests.
Collapse
|
176
|
Tong SM, Zhang AX, Guo CT, Ying SH, Feng MG. Daylight length-dependent translocation of VIVID photoreceptor in cells and its essential role in conidiation and virulence of Beauveria bassiana. Environ Microbiol 2017; 20:169-185. [PMID: 28967173 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2017] [Accepted: 09/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The fungal insect pathogen Beauveria bassiana has the blue-light photoreceptor VIVID (VVD) but lacks a pigmentation pattern to trace its light responses. Here, we show that the fungal vvd is transcriptionally expressed, and linked to other blue/red photoreceptor genes, in a daylight length-dependent manner. GFP-tagged VVD fusion protein was localized to periphery, cytoplasm and vacuoles of hyphal cells in light/dark (L:D) cycles of 24:0 and 16:8 and aggregated in cytoplasm with shortening daylight until transfer into nuclei in full darkness. Deletion of vvd caused more reduced (91%) conidiation capacity in L:D 12:12 cycle of blue light (450/480 nm) than of yellow-to-red (540-760 nm) and white lights (∼70%). The conidiation defect worsened with shortened daylight in different L:D cycles of white light, coinciding well with drastic repression of key activator genes in central development pathway. Intriguingly, the deletion mutant displayed blocked secretion of cuticle-degrading Pr1 proteases, retarded dimorphic transition in insect haemocoel, and hence a lethal action twice longer than those for control strains against Galleria mellonella regardless of the infection passing or bypassing insect cuticle. Conclusively, VVD sustains normal conidiation in a daylight length-dependent manner and acts as a vital virulence factor in B. bassiana.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sen-Miao Tong
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - An-Xue Zhang
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Chong-Tao Guo
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
177
|
Yao G, Zhang F, Nie X, Wang X, Yuan J, Zhuang Z, Wang S. Essential APSES Transcription Factors for Mycotoxin Synthesis, Fungal Development, and Pathogenicity in Aspergillus flavus. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:2277. [PMID: 29209291 PMCID: PMC5702001 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2017] [Accepted: 11/06/2017] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Aflatoxins are a potent carcinogenic mycotoxin and has become a research model of fungal secondary metabolism (SM). Via systematically investigating the APSES transcription factors (TFs), two APSES proteins were identified: AfRafA and AfStuA. These play central roles in the synthesis of mycotoxins including aflatoxin and cyclopiazonic acid, and fungal development and are consequently central to the pathogenicity of the aflatoxigenic A. flavus. Loss of AfRafA not only dramatically suppressed aflatoxin cluster expression, subsequently reducing toxin synthesis both in vitro and in vivo, but also impaired conidia and sclerotia development. More importantly, aflatoxin biosynthesis as well as conidia and sclerotia development were fully blocked in ΔAfStuA. In addition, our results supported that AfStuA regulated the aflatoxin synthesis in an AflR-dependent manner. Intriguingly, it was revealed that AfRafA and AfStuA exert an antagonistic role in the regulation of biosynthesis of cyclopiazonic acid. In summary, two global transcriptional regulators for fungal development, mycotoxin production, and seed pathogenicity of the A. flavus system have been established. The two novel regulators of mycotoxins are promising targets for future plant breeding and for the development of fungicides.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guangshan Yao
- Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins of Fujian Province, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Feng Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins of Fujian Province, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xinyi Nie
- Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins of Fujian Province, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xiuna Wang
- Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins of Fujian Province, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Jun Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins of Fujian Province, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Zhenhong Zhuang
- Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins of Fujian Province, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Shihua Wang
- Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins of Fujian Province, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
178
|
Zhu XG, Chu ZJ, Ying SH, Feng MG. Lysyl-tRNA synthetase (Krs) acts a virulence factor of Beauveria bassiana by its vital role in conidial germination and dimorphic transition. Fungal Biol 2017; 121:956-965. [DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2017.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2017] [Revised: 07/30/2017] [Accepted: 08/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
|
179
|
Niehaus EM, Kim HK, Münsterkötter M, Janevska S, Arndt B, Kalinina SA, Houterman PM, Ahn IP, Alberti I, Tonti S, Kim DW, Sieber CMK, Humpf HU, Yun SH, Güldener U, Tudzynski B. Comparative genomics of geographically distant Fusarium fujikuroi isolates revealed two distinct pathotypes correlating with secondary metabolite profiles. PLoS Pathog 2017; 13:e1006670. [PMID: 29073267 PMCID: PMC5675463 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2017] [Revised: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Fusarium fujikuroi causes bakanae ("foolish seedling") disease of rice which is characterized by hyper-elongation of seedlings resulting from production of gibberellic acids (GAs) by the fungus. This plant pathogen is also known for production of harmful mycotoxins, such as fusarins, fusaric acid, apicidin F and beauvericin. Recently, we generated the first de novo genome sequence of F. fujikuroi strain IMI 58289 combined with extensive transcriptional, epigenetic, proteomic and chemical product analyses. GA production was shown to provide a selective advantage during infection of the preferred host plant rice. Here, we provide genome sequences of eight additional F. fujikuroi isolates from distant geographic regions. The isolates differ in the size of chromosomes, most likely due to variability of subtelomeric regions, the type of asexual spores (microconidia and/or macroconidia), and the number and expression of secondary metabolite gene clusters. Whilst most of the isolates caused the typical bakanae symptoms, one isolate, B14, caused stunting and early withering of infected seedlings. In contrast to the other isolates, B14 produced no GAs but high amounts of fumonisins during infection on rice. Furthermore, it differed from the other isolates by the presence of three additional polyketide synthase (PKS) genes (PKS40, PKS43, PKS51) and the absence of the F. fujikuroi-specific apicidin F (NRPS31) gene cluster. Analysis of additional field isolates confirmed the strong correlation between the pathotype (bakanae or stunting/withering), and the ability to produce either GAs or fumonisins. Deletion of the fumonisin and fusaric acid-specific PKS genes in B14 reduced the stunting/withering symptoms, whereas deletion of the PKS51 gene resulted in elevated symptom development. Phylogenetic analyses revealed two subclades of F. fujikuroi strains according to their pathotype and secondary metabolite profiles.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eva-Maria Niehaus
- Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Plants, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of Fungi, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Hee-Kyoung Kim
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Soonchunhyang University, Asan, Republic of Korea
| | - Martin Münsterkötter
- Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Slavica Janevska
- Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Plants, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of Fungi, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Birgit Arndt
- Institute of Food Chemistry, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 45, Münster, Germany
| | - Svetlana A. Kalinina
- Institute of Food Chemistry, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 45, Münster, Germany
| | - Petra M. Houterman
- University of Amsterdam, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Plant Pathology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Il-Pyung Ahn
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, Republic of Korea
| | - Ilaria Alberti
- CREA-CIN Sede di Rovigo, Viale Giovanni Amendola, 82, 45100 Rovigo, Italy
| | - Stefano Tonti
- CREA-SCS Sede di Bologna, Via di Corticella, 133, 40128 Bologna, Italy
| | - Da-Woon Kim
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Soonchunhyang University, Asan, Republic of Korea
| | - Christian M. K. Sieber
- Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, University of California, Walnut Creek, Berkeley, California
| | - Hans-Ulrich Humpf
- Institute of Food Chemistry, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 45, Münster, Germany
| | - Sung-Hwan Yun
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Soonchunhyang University, Asan, Republic of Korea
- * E-mail: (BT); (UG); (SY)
| | - Ulrich Güldener
- Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Genome-oriented Bioinformatics, TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
- * E-mail: (BT); (UG); (SY)
| | - Bettina Tudzynski
- Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Plants, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of Fungi, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
- * E-mail: (BT); (UG); (SY)
| |
Collapse
|
180
|
Franco DL, Canessa P, Bellora N, Risau-Gusman S, Olivares-Yañez C, Pérez-Lara R, Libkind D, Larrondo LF, Marpegan L. Spontaneous circadian rhythms in a cold-adapted natural isolate of Aureobasidium pullulans. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13837. [PMID: 29062053 PMCID: PMC5653790 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14085-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2017] [Accepted: 09/15/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Circadian systems enable organisms to synchronize their physiology to daily and seasonal environmental changes relying on endogenous pacemakers that oscillate with a period close to 24 h even in the absence of external timing cues. The oscillations are achieved by intracellular transcriptional/translational feedback loops thoroughly characterized for many organisms, but still little is known about the presence and characteristics of circadian clocks in fungi other than Neurospora crassa. We sought to characterize the circadian system of a natural isolate of Aureobasidium pullulans, a cold-adapted yeast bearing great biotechnological potential. A. pullulans formed daily concentric rings that were synchronized by light/dark cycles and were also formed in constant darkness with a period of 24.5 h. Moreover, these rhythms were temperature compensated, as evidenced by experiments conducted at temperatures as low as 10 °C. Finally, the expression of clock-essential genes, frequency, white collar-1, white collar-2 and vivid was confirmed. In summary, our results indicate the existence of a functional circadian clock in A. pullulans, capable of sustaining rhythms at very low temperatures and, based on the presence of conserved clock-gene homologues, suggest a molecular and functional relationship to well-described circadian systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Diana L Franco
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente (INIBIOMA), Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CONICET, CRUB, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina.,Departamento de Física Médica Centro Atómico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro, CONICET, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - Paulo Canessa
- Centro de Biotecnologia Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile.,Millennium Nucleus for Fungal Integrative and Synthetic Biology (MN-FISB), Santiago, Chile
| | - Nicolás Bellora
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente (INIBIOMA), Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CONICET, CRUB, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | | | - Consuelo Olivares-Yañez
- Millennium Nucleus for Fungal Integrative and Synthetic Biology (MN-FISB), Santiago, Chile.,Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Rodrigo Pérez-Lara
- Millennium Nucleus for Fungal Integrative and Synthetic Biology (MN-FISB), Santiago, Chile.,Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Diego Libkind
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente (INIBIOMA), Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CONICET, CRUB, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - Luis F Larrondo
- Millennium Nucleus for Fungal Integrative and Synthetic Biology (MN-FISB), Santiago, Chile.,Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Luciano Marpegan
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| |
Collapse
|
181
|
Wang D, Akhberdi O, Hao X, Yu X, Chen L, Liu Y, Zhu X. Amino Acid Sensor Kinase Gcn2 Is Required for Conidiation, Secondary Metabolism, and Cell Wall Integrity in the Taxol-Producer Pestalotiopsis microspora. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:1879. [PMID: 29021785 PMCID: PMC5623678 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The canonical Gcn2/Cpc1 kinase in fungi coordinates the expression of target genes in response to amino acid starvation. To investigate its possible role in secondary metabolism, we characterized a gcn2 homolog in the taxol-producing fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora. Deletion of the gene led to severe physiological defects under amino acid starvation, suggesting a conserved function of gcn2 in amino acid sensing. The mutant strain Δgcn2 displayed retardation in vegetative growth. It generated dramatically fewer conidia, suggesting a connection between amino acid metabolism and conidiation in this fungus. Importantly, disruption of the gene altered the production of secondary metabolites by HPLC profiling. For instance, under amino acid starvation, the deletion strain Δgcn2 barely produced secondary metabolites including the known natural product pestalotiollide B. Even more, we showed that gcn2 played critical roles in the tolerance to several stress conditions. Δgcn2 exhibited a hypersensitivity to Calcofluor white and Congo red, implying a role of Gcn2 in maintaining the integrity of the cell wall. This study suggests that Gcn2 kinase is an important global regulator in the growth and development of filamentous fungi and will provide knowledge for the manipulation of secondary metabolism in P. microspora.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dan Wang
- National Key Program of Microbiology and Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Oren Akhberdi
- National Key Program of Microbiology and Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiaoran Hao
- National Experimental Teaching Demonstrating Center, School of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xi Yu
- National Key Program of Microbiology and Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Longfei Chen
- National Key Program of Microbiology and Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Yanjie Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering Drug and Biotechnology, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xudong Zhu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering Drug and Biotechnology, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
182
|
Li HX, Lu ZM, Zhu Q, Gong JS, Geng Y, Shi JS, Xu ZH, Ma YH. Comparative Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses Reveal a FluG-Mediated Signaling Pathway Relating to Asexual Sporulation ofAntrodia camphorata. Proteomics 2017; 17. [DOI: 10.1002/pmic.201700256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hua-Xiang Li
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology; School of Pharmaceutical Science; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of Ministry of Education; Jiangnan University; Wuxi P.R. China
| | - Zhen-Ming Lu
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology; School of Pharmaceutical Science; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of Ministry of Education; Jiangnan University; Wuxi P.R. China
| | - Qing Zhu
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology; School of Pharmaceutical Science; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of Ministry of Education; Jiangnan University; Wuxi P.R. China
| | - Jin-Song Gong
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology; School of Pharmaceutical Science; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of Ministry of Education; Jiangnan University; Wuxi P.R. China
| | - Yan Geng
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology; School of Pharmaceutical Science; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of Ministry of Education; Jiangnan University; Wuxi P.R. China
| | - Jin-Song Shi
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology; School of Pharmaceutical Science; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of Ministry of Education; Jiangnan University; Wuxi P.R. China
| | - Zheng-Hong Xu
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology; School of Pharmaceutical Science; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of Ministry of Education; Jiangnan University; Wuxi P.R. China
- Tianjin Key Laboratory for Industrial Biological Systems and Bioprocessing Engineering, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Tianjin P.R. China
| | - Yan-He Ma
- Tianjin Key Laboratory for Industrial Biological Systems and Bioprocessing Engineering, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Tianjin P.R. China
| |
Collapse
|
183
|
|
184
|
Wu Y, Ren Y, Zhou X, Cai M, Zhang Y. Transcription factorAgseb1affects development, osmotic stress response, and secondary metabolism in marine-derivedAspergillus glaucus. J Basic Microbiol 2017; 57:873-882. [DOI: 10.1002/jobm.201700123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2017] [Revised: 06/22/2017] [Accepted: 06/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering; East China University of Science and Technology; Shanghai China
| | - Yanna Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering; East China University of Science and Technology; Shanghai China
| | - Xiangshan Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering; East China University of Science and Technology; Shanghai China
| | - Menghao Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering; East China University of Science and Technology; Shanghai China
| | - Yuanxing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering; East China University of Science and Technology; Shanghai China
- Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomanufacturing; Shanghai China
| |
Collapse
|
185
|
Liu J, Tong SM, Qiu L, Ying SH, Feng MG. Two histidine kinases can sense different stress cues for activation of the MAPK Hog1 in a fungal insect pathogen. Environ Microbiol 2017; 19:4091-4102. [DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2017] [Revised: 06/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jing Liu
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058 China
| | - Sen-Miao Tong
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058 China
| | - Lei Qiu
- School of Bioengineering; Qilu University of Technology; Jinan, Shandong 250353 China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058 China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058 China
| |
Collapse
|
186
|
Random mutagenesis analysis and identification of a novel C 2H 2-type transcription factor from the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora. Sci Rep 2017; 7:5640. [PMID: 28717216 PMCID: PMC5514059 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06075-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2016] [Accepted: 06/12/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Arthrobotrys oligospora is a typical nematode-trapping fungus. In this study, 37 transformants of A. oligospora were obtained by REMI (restriction enzyme mediated integration) method and phenotypic properties of nine transformants were analyzed. The nine transformants showed differences in growth, conidiation, trap formation, stress tolerance, and/or pathogenicity among each other and with those of the parental wild-type strain (WT). The insertional sites of the hph cassette were identified in transformants X5 and X13. In X5, the cassette was inserted in the non-coding region between AOL_s00076g273 (76g273) and AOL_s00076g274 (76g274) and the transcription of 76g274, but not 76g273, was enhanced in X5. 76g274p had two conserved domains and was predicted as a nucleoprotein, which we confirmed by its nuclear localization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using the green fluorescent protein-fused 76g274p. The transcription of 76g274 was stimulated or inhibited by several environmental factors. The sporulation yields of 76g274-deficient mutants were decreased by 70%, and transcription of several sporulation-related genes was severely diminished compared to the WT during the conidiation. In summary, a method for screening mutants was established in A. oligospora and using the method, we identified a novel C2H2-type transcription factor that positively regulates the conidiation of A. oligospora.
Collapse
|
187
|
Feng X, Ramamoorthy V, Pandit SS, Prieto A, Espeso EA, Calvo AM. cpsA regulates mycotoxin production, morphogenesis and cell wall biosynthesis in the fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Mol Microbiol 2017; 105:1-24. [PMID: 28370587 PMCID: PMC5506848 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2016] [Revised: 03/21/2017] [Accepted: 03/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The model fungus Aspergillus nidulans synthesizes numerous secondary metabolites, including sterigmatocystin (ST). The production of this toxin is positively controlled by the global regulator veA. In the absence of veA (ΔveA), ST biosynthesis is blocked. Previously, we performed random mutagenesis in a ΔveA strain and identified revertant mutants able to synthesize ST, among them RM1. Complementation of RM1 with a genomic library revealed that the mutation occurred in a gene designated as cpsA. While in the ΔveA genetic background cpsA deletion restores ST production, in a veA wild-type background absence of cpsA reduces and delays ST biosynthesis decreasing the expression of ST genes. Furthermore, cpsA is also necessary for the production of other secondary metabolites, including penicillin, affecting the expression of PN genes. In addition, cpsA is necessary for normal asexual and sexual development. Chemical and microscopy analyses revealed that CpsA is found in cytoplasmic vesicles and it is required for normal cell wall composition and integrity, affecting adhesion capacity and oxidative stress sensitivity. The conservation of cpsA in Ascomycetes suggests that cpsA homologs might have similar roles in other fungal species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xuehuan Feng
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 60115, USA
| | - Vellaisamy Ramamoorthy
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 60115, USA,Dept. of Plant Pathology Agricultural College and Research Institute Killikulam, Vallanadu - 628 252 Thoothukudi District Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Sandesh S. Pandit
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 60115, USA
| | - Alicia Prieto
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Ana M. Calvo
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 60115, USA,Author to whom correspondence should be addressed [telephone: (815) 753-0451]; fax (815) 753-0461; ]
| |
Collapse
|
188
|
Chu ZJ, Sun HH, Zhu XG, Ying SH, Feng MG. Discovery of a new intravacuolar protein required for the autophagy, development and virulence of Beauveria bassiana. Environ Microbiol 2017; 19:2806-2818. [DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2017] [Revised: 05/20/2017] [Accepted: 05/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhen-Jian Chu
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou Zhejiang People's Republic of China
| | - Huan-Huan Sun
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou Zhejiang People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao-Guan Zhu
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou Zhejiang People's Republic of China
| | - Sheng-Hua Ying
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou Zhejiang People's Republic of China
| | - Ming-Guang Feng
- Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University; Hangzhou Zhejiang People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
189
|
Ariff A. The Morphology and Structure of Red Pigment Producing Fungus: Monascus Purpureus. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.15406/jmen.2017.05.00138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
|
190
|
Zeng G, Chen X, Zhang X, Zhang Q, Xu C, Mi W, Guo N, Zhao H, You Y, Dryburgh FJ, Bidochka MJ, St. Leger RJ, Zhang L, Fang W. Genome-wide identification of pathogenicity, conidiation and colony sectorization genes in Metarhizium robertsii. Environ Microbiol 2017; 19:3896-3908. [DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2017] [Revised: 04/17/2017] [Accepted: 04/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Guohong Zeng
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| | - Xiaoxuan Chen
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| | - Xing Zhang
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| | | | - Chuan Xu
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| | - Wubin Mi
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| | - Na Guo
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| | - Hong Zhao
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| | - Yue You
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| | - Farah-Jade Dryburgh
- Department of Biological Sciences; Brock University; St. Catharines ON Canada
| | - Michael J. Bidochka
- Department of Biological Sciences; Brock University; St. Catharines ON Canada
| | | | - Lei Zhang
- School of Biological and Chemical Engineering; Zhejiang University of Science & Technology; Hangzhou China
| | - Weiguo Fang
- Institute of Microbiology; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
- Institute of Insect Sciences; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou China
| |
Collapse
|
191
|
Vital role for cyclophilin B (CypB) in asexual development, dimorphic transition and virulence of Beauveria bassiana. Fungal Genet Biol 2017; 105:8-15. [PMID: 28552321 DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2017.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2017] [Revised: 05/19/2017] [Accepted: 05/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Cyclophilin B (CypB) was previously revealed as one of many putative secretory proteins in the transcriptome of Beauveria bassiana infection to a lepidopteran pest. Here we show a main localization of CypB in hyphal cell walls and septa and its essential role in the in vitro and in vivo asexual cycles of the fungal insect pathogen. Deletion of cypB reduced colony growth by 16-42% on two rich media and 30 scant media with different carbon or nitrogen sources. The deletion mutant suffered a delayed conidiation on a standard medium and a final 47% reduction in conidial yield, accompanied with drastic transcript depression of several key genes required for conidiation and conidial maturation. The mutant conidia required 10h longer to germinate 50% at optimal 25°C than wild-type conidia. Intriguingly, cultivation of the mutant conidia in a trehalose-peptone broth mimic to insect hemolymph resulted in 83% reduction in blastospore yield but only slight decrease in biomass level, indicating severe defects in transition of hyphae to blastospores. LT50 for the deletion mutant against Galleria mellonella larvae through normal cuticle infection was prolonged to 7.4d from a wild-type estimate of 4.7d. During colony growth, additionally, the deletion mutant displayed hypersensitivity to Congo red, menadione, H2O2 and heat shock but increased tolerance to cyclosporine A and rapamycin. All of changes were restored by targeted gene complementation. Altogether, CypB takes part in sustaining normal growth, aerial conidiation, conidial germination, dimorphic transition, stress tolerance and pathogenicity in B. bassiana.
Collapse
|
192
|
Park HS, Lee MK, Kim SC, Yu JH. The role of VosA/VelB-activated developmental gene vadA in Aspergillus nidulans. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0177099. [PMID: 28481894 PMCID: PMC5421774 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2017] [Accepted: 04/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans primarily reproduces by forming asexual spores called conidia, the integrity of which is governed by the NF-κB type velvet regulators VosA and VelB. The VosA-VelB hetero-complex regulates the expression of spore-specific structural and regulatory genes during conidiogenesis. Here, we characterize one of the VosA/VelB-activated developmental genes, called vadA, the expression of which in conidia requires activity of both VosA and VelB. VadA (AN5709) is predicted to be a 532-amino acid length fungal-specific protein with a highly conserved domain of unknown function (DUF) at the N-terminus. This DUF was found to be conserved in many Ascomycota and some Glomeromycota species, suggesting a potential evolutionarily conserved function of this domain in fungi. Deletion studies of vadA indicate that VadA is required for proper downregulation of brlA, fksA, and rodA, and for proper expression of tpsA and orlA during sporogenesis. Moreover, vadA null mutant conidia exhibit decreased trehalose content, but increased β(1,3)-glucan levels, lower viability, and reduced tolerance to oxidative stress. We further demonstrate that the vadA null mutant shows increased production of the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin. In summary, VadA is a dual-function novel regulator that controls development and secondary metabolism, and participates in bridging differentiation and viability of newly formed conidia in A. nidulans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hee-Soo Park
- School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | - Mi-Kyung Lee
- Departments of Bacteriology and Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States of America
| | - Sun Chang Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae-Hyuk Yu
- Departments of Bacteriology and Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
193
|
Bazafkan H, Dattenböck C, Stappler E, Beier S, Schmoll M. Interrelationships of VEL1 and ENV1 in light response and development in Trichoderma reesei. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0175946. [PMID: 28423024 PMCID: PMC5397039 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2016] [Accepted: 04/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual development is regulated by a complex regulatory mechanism in fungi. For Trichoderma reesei, the light response pathway was shown to impact sexual development, particularly through the photoreceptor ENVOY. Moreover, T. reesei communicates chemically with a potential mating partner in its vicinity, a response which is mediated by the velvet family protein VEL1 and its impact on secondary metabolism. We therefore studied the regulatory interactions of ENV1 and VEL1 with a focus on sexual development. Although individual mutants in both genes are female sterile under standard crossing conditions (light—dark cycles), an altered light regime enabled sexual development, which we found to be due to conditional female sterility of Δenv1, but not Δvel1. Phenotypes of growth and asexual sporulation as well as regulation of the peptide pheromone precursors of double mutants suggested that ENV1 and VEL1 balance positive and negative regulators of these functions. Additionally, VEL1 contributed to the strong deregulation of the pheromone system observed in env1 mutants. Female sterility of Δvel1 was rescued by deletion of env1 in darkness in MAT1-1, indicating a block of sexual development by ENV1 in darkness that is balanced by VEL1 in the wild-type. We conclude that ENV1 and VEL1 exert complementing functions in development of T. reesei. Our results further showed that the different developmental phenotypes of vel1/veA mutants in T. reesei and Aspergillus nidulans are not due to the presence or function of ENV1 in the VELVET regulatory pathway in T. reesei.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hoda Bazafkan
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Department Health and Environment, Bioresources, Tulln, Austria
| | - Christoph Dattenböck
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Department Health and Environment, Bioresources, Tulln, Austria
| | - Eva Stappler
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Department Health and Environment, Bioresources, Tulln, Austria
| | - Sabrina Beier
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Department Health and Environment, Bioresources, Tulln, Austria
| | - Monika Schmoll
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Department Health and Environment, Bioresources, Tulln, Austria
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
194
|
Ge Y, Yu F, Tan Y, Zhang X, Liu Z. Comparative Transcriptome Sequence Analysis of Sporulation-Related Genes of Aspergillus cristatus in Response to Low and High Osmolarity. Curr Microbiol 2017; 74:806-814. [PMID: 28417188 DOI: 10.1007/s00284-017-1250-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2016] [Accepted: 04/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Aspergillus cristatus undergoes sexual and asexual development under conditions of low and high osmotic pressure, respectively. In this study, the expression levels of 107 genes associated with sexual and asexual development were analysed under conditions of low and high osmotic pressure by RNA sequencing. The results showed that 37 genes were up-regulated and other genes were down-regulated under conditions of high osmotic pressure, with most of the up-regulated genes associated with asexual development and most down-regulated genes associated with sexual development. These results suggest that osmotic pressure regulated sexual and asexual development of A. cristatus by controlling the expression levels of key genes. Meanwhile, there were differences in the expression levels of key genes associated with the regulation of sexual and asexual development between A. cristatus and Aspergillus nidulans. Moreover, we verified the reliability of the results by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis of some key genes. In this study, the relationship between sporulation-related genes and osmotic pressure at the transcriptome level were analysed, which indicated that A. cristatus was a useful model organism for the study of osmotic pressure regulation on sexual and asexual development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yongyi Ge
- College of Life and Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China
- Guizhou Key Laboratory of Agriculture Biotechnology, Guiyang, 550006, Guizhou, China
| | - Fengming Yu
- College of Life and Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Yumei Tan
- Guizhou Key Laboratory of Agriculture Biotechnology, Guiyang, 550006, Guizhou, China
- Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Science, Guiyang, 550006, Guizhou, China
| | - Xiaoling Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Zuoyi Liu
- Guizhou Key Laboratory of Agriculture Biotechnology, Guiyang, 550006, Guizhou, China.
- Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Science, Guiyang, 550006, Guizhou, China.
| |
Collapse
|
195
|
Regulation of conidiation in Botrytis cinerea involves the light-responsive transcriptional regulators BcLTF3 and BcREG1. Curr Genet 2017; 63:931-949. [PMID: 28382431 DOI: 10.1007/s00294-017-0692-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2017] [Revised: 03/29/2017] [Accepted: 03/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Botrytis cinerea is a plant pathogenic fungus with a broad host range. Due to its rapid growth and reproduction by asexual spores (conidia), which increases the inoculum pressure, the fungus is a serious problem in different fields of agriculture. The formation of the conidia is promoted by light, whereas the formation of sclerotia as survival structures occurs in its absence. Based on this observation, putative transcription factors (TFs) whose expression is induced upon light exposure have been considered as candidates for activating conidiation and/or repressing sclerotial development. Previous studies reported on the identification of six light-responsive TFs (LTFs), and two of them have been confirmed as crucial developmental regulators: BcLTF2 is the positive regulator of conidiation, whose expression is negatively regulated by BcLTF1. Here, the functional characterization of the four remaining LTFs is reported. BcLTF3 has a dual function, as it represses conidiophore development by repressing bcltf2 in light and darkness, and is moreover essential for conidiogenesis. In bcltf3 deletion mutants conidium initials grow out to hyphae, which develop secondary conidiophores. In contrast, no obvious functions could be assigned to BcLTF4, BcLTF5 and BcLTF6 in these experiments. BcREG1, previously reported to be required for virulence and conidiogenesis, has been re-identified as light-responsive transcriptional regulator. Studies with bcreg1 overexpression strains indicated that BcREG1 differentially affects conidiation by acting as a repressor of BcLTF2-induced conidiation in the light and as an activator of a BcLTF2-independent conidiation program in the dark.
Collapse
|
196
|
Park HS, Jun SC, Han KH, Hong SB, Yu JH. Diversity, Application, and Synthetic Biology of Industrially Important Aspergillus Fungi. ADVANCES IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY 2017; 100:161-202. [PMID: 28732553 DOI: 10.1016/bs.aambs.2017.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The filamentous fungal genus Aspergillus consists of over 340 officially recognized species. A handful of these Aspergillus fungi are predominantly used for food fermentation and large-scale production of enzymes, organic acids, and bioactive compounds. These industrially important Aspergilli primarily belong to the two major Aspergillus sections, Nigri and Flavi. Aspergillus oryzae (section Flavi) is the most commonly used mold for the fermentation of soybeans, rice, grains, and potatoes. Aspergillus niger (section Nigri) is used in the industrial production of various enzymes and organic acids, including 99% (1.4 million tons per year) of citric acid produced worldwide. Better understanding of the genomes and the signaling mechanisms of key Aspergillus species can help identify novel approaches to enhance these commercially significant strains. This review summarizes the diversity, current applications, key products, and synthetic biology of Aspergillus fungi commonly used in industry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hee-Soo Park
- Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | | | | | | | - Jae-Hyuk Yu
- University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| |
Collapse
|
197
|
Dicer and Argonaute Genes Involved in RNA Interference in the Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium robertsii. Appl Environ Microbiol 2017; 83:AEM.03230-16. [PMID: 28130299 DOI: 10.1128/aem.03230-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Accepted: 01/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) is a gene-silencing mechanism that plays an important role in gene regulation in a number of eukaryotic organisms. Two core components, Dicer and Argonaute, are central in the RNAi machinery. However, the physiological roles of Dicer and Argonaute in the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium robertsii have remained unclear. Here, the roles of genes encoding Dicer (M. robertsiidcl1 [Mrdcl1] and Mrdcl2) and Argonaute (Mrago1 and Mrago2) proteins in M. robertsii were investigated. The results showed that the Dicer-like protein MrDCL2 and Argonaute protein MrAGO1 are the major components of the RNAi process occurring in M. robertsii The Dicer and Argonaute genes were not involved in the regulation of growth and diverse abiotic stress response in M. robertsii under the tested conditions. Moreover, our results showed that the Dicer and Argonaute gene mutants demonstrated reduced abilities to produce conidia, compared to the wild type (WT) and the gene-rescued mutant. In particular, the conidial yields in the Δdcl2 and Δago1 mutants were reduced by 55.8% and 59.3%, respectively, compared with those from the control strains. Subsequently, for the WT and Δdcl2 mutant strains, digital gene expression (DGE) profiling analysis of the stage of mycelium growth and conidiogenesis revealed that modest changes occur in development or metabolism processes, which may explain the reduction in conidiation in the Δdcl2 mutant. In addition, we further applied high-throughput sequencing technology to identify small RNAs (sRNAs) that are differentially expressed in the WT and the Δdcl2 mutant and found that 4 known microRNA-like small RNAs (milRNAs) and 8 novel milRNAs were Mrdcl2 dependent in M. robertsiiIMPORTANCE The identification and characterization of components in RNAi have contributed significantly to our understanding of the mechanism and functions of RNAi in eukaryotes. Here, we found that Dicer and Argonaute genes play an important role in regulating conidiation in M. robertsii Our study also demonstrates that diverse small RNA pathways exist in M. robertsii The study provides a theoretical platform for exploration of the functions of Dicer and Argonaute genes involved in RNAi in fungi.
Collapse
|
198
|
Palonen EK, Raina S, Brandt A, Meriluoto J, Keshavarz T, Soini JT. Transcriptomic Complexity of Aspergillus terreus Velvet Gene Family under the Influence of Butyrolactone I. Microorganisms 2017; 5:E12. [PMID: 28335447 PMCID: PMC5374389 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms5010012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2017] [Revised: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Filamentous fungi of the Ascomycota phylum are known to contain a family of conserved conidiation regulating proteins with distinctive velvet domains. In Aspergilli, this velvet family includes four proteins, VeA, VelB, VelC and VosA, and is involved in conidiation and secondary metabolism along with a global regulator LaeA. In A. terreus, the overexpression of LaeA has been observed to increase the biogenesis of the pharmaceutically-important secondary metabolite, lovastatin, while the role of the velvet family has not been studied. The secondary metabolism and conidiation of A. terreus have also been observed to be increased by butyrolactone I in a quorum-sensing manner. An enlightenment of the interplay of these regulators will give potential advancement to the industrial use of this fungus, as well as in resolving the pathogenic features. In this study, the Aspergillus terreus MUCL 38669 transcriptome was strand-specifically sequenced to enable an in-depth gene expression analysis to further investigate the transcriptional role of butyrolactone I in these processes. The sequenced transcriptome revealed intriguing properties of the velvet family transcripts, including the regulator laeA, and uncovered the velC gene in A. terreus. The reliability refining microarray gene expression analysis disclosed a positive regulatory role for butyrolactone I in laeA expression, as well as an influence on the expression of the canonical conidiation-regulating genes under submerged culture. All of this supports the suggested regulative role of butyrolactone I in A. terreus secondary metabolism, as well as conidiation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elina K Palonen
- Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, FI-20520 Åbo, Finland.
| | - Sheetal Raina
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, London W1W 6UW, UK.
| | - Annika Brandt
- Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, FI-20520 Åbo, Finland.
| | - Jussi Meriluoto
- Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, FI-20520 Åbo, Finland.
| | - Tajalli Keshavarz
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, London W1W 6UW, UK.
| | - Juhani T Soini
- Faculty of Life Sciences and Business, Turku University of Applied Sciences, FI-20520 Åbo, Finland.
| |
Collapse
|
199
|
de Vries RP, Riley R, Wiebenga A, Aguilar-Osorio G, Amillis S, Uchima CA, Anderluh G, Asadollahi M, Askin M, Barry K, Battaglia E, Bayram Ö, Benocci T, Braus-Stromeyer SA, Caldana C, Cánovas D, Cerqueira GC, Chen F, Chen W, Choi C, Clum A, dos Santos RAC, Damásio ARDL, Diallinas G, Emri T, Fekete E, Flipphi M, Freyberg S, Gallo A, Gournas C, Habgood R, Hainaut M, Harispe ML, Henrissat B, Hildén KS, Hope R, Hossain A, Karabika E, Karaffa L, Karányi Z, Kraševec N, Kuo A, Kusch H, LaButti K, Lagendijk EL, Lapidus A, Levasseur A, Lindquist E, Lipzen A, Logrieco AF, MacCabe A, Mäkelä MR, Malavazi I, Melin P, Meyer V, Mielnichuk N, Miskei M, Molnár ÁP, Mulé G, Ngan CY, Orejas M, Orosz E, Ouedraogo JP, Overkamp KM, Park HS, Perrone G, Piumi F, Punt PJ, Ram AFJ, Ramón A, Rauscher S, Record E, Riaño-Pachón DM, Robert V, Röhrig J, Ruller R, Salamov A, Salih NS, Samson RA, Sándor E, Sanguinetti M, Schütze T, Sepčić K, Shelest E, Sherlock G, Sophianopoulou V, Squina FM, Sun H, Susca A, Todd RB, Tsang A, Unkles SE, van de Wiele N, van Rossen-Uffink D, Oliveira JVDC, Vesth TC, Visser J, Yu JH, Zhou M, Andersen MR, Archer DB, Baker SE, Benoit I, Brakhage AA, Braus GH, Fischer R, Frisvad JC, Goldman GH, Houbraken J, Oakley B, Pócsi I, Scazzocchio C, Seiboth B, vanKuyk PA, Wortman J, Dyer PS, Grigoriev IV. Comparative genomics reveals high biological diversity and specific adaptations in the industrially and medically important fungal genus Aspergillus. Genome Biol 2017; 18:28. [PMID: 28196534 PMCID: PMC5307856 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-017-1151-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 316] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2016] [Accepted: 01/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The fungal genus Aspergillus is of critical importance to humankind. Species include those with industrial applications, important pathogens of humans, animals and crops, a source of potent carcinogenic contaminants of food, and an important genetic model. The genome sequences of eight aspergilli have already been explored to investigate aspects of fungal biology, raising questions about evolution and specialization within this genus. RESULTS We have generated genome sequences for ten novel, highly diverse Aspergillus species and compared these in detail to sister and more distant genera. Comparative studies of key aspects of fungal biology, including primary and secondary metabolism, stress response, biomass degradation, and signal transduction, revealed both conservation and diversity among the species. Observed genomic differences were validated with experimental studies. This revealed several highlights, such as the potential for sex in asexual species, organic acid production genes being a key feature of black aspergilli, alternative approaches for degrading plant biomass, and indications for the genetic basis of stress response. A genome-wide phylogenetic analysis demonstrated in detail the relationship of the newly genome sequenced species with other aspergilli. CONCLUSIONS Many aspects of biological differences between fungal species cannot be explained by current knowledge obtained from genome sequences. The comparative genomics and experimental study, presented here, allows for the first time a genus-wide view of the biological diversity of the aspergilli and in many, but not all, cases linked genome differences to phenotype. Insights gained could be exploited for biotechnological and medical applications of fungi.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ronald P. de Vries
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Robert Riley
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Ad Wiebenga
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Guillermo Aguilar-Osorio
- Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, National University of Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, D.F. C.P. 04510 Mexico
| | - Sotiris Amillis
- Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, 15781 Athens, Greece
| | - Cristiane Akemi Uchima
- Laboratório Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Caixa Postal 6192 CEP 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo Brasil
- Present address: VTT Brasil, Alameda Inajá, 123, CEP 06460-055 Barueri, São Paulo Brazil
| | - Gregor Anderluh
- Laboratory for Molecular Biology and Nanobiotechnology, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Mojtaba Asadollahi
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Marion Askin
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
- Present address: CSIRO Publishing, Unipark, Building 1 Level 1, 195 Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3168 Australia
| | - Kerrie Barry
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Evy Battaglia
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Özgür Bayram
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Genetics, Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Georg August University Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Biology, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare Ireland
| | - Tiziano Benocci
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Susanna A. Braus-Stromeyer
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Genetics, Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Georg August University Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Camila Caldana
- Laboratório Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Caixa Postal 6192 CEP 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo Brasil
- Max Planck Partner Group, Brazilian Bioethanol Science and Technology Laboratory, CEP 13083-100 Campinas, Sao Paulo Brazil
| | - David Cánovas
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Seville, Avda de Reina Mercedes 6, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
- Fungal Genetics and Genomics Unit, Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Fusheng Chen
- College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070 China
| | - Wanping Chen
- College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070 China
| | - Cindy Choi
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Alicia Clum
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Renato Augusto Corrêa dos Santos
- Laboratório Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Caixa Postal 6192 CEP 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo Brasil
| | - André Ricardo de Lima Damásio
- Laboratório Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Caixa Postal 6192 CEP 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo Brasil
- Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, CEP 13083-862 Campinas, SP Brazil
| | - George Diallinas
- Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, 15781 Athens, Greece
| | - Tamás Emri
- Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Erzsébet Fekete
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Michel Flipphi
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Susanne Freyberg
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Genetics, Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Georg August University Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Antonia Gallo
- Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), via Provinciale Lecce-Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
| | - Christos Gournas
- Institute of Biosciences and Applications, Microbial Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National Center for Scientific Research, Demokritos (NCSRD), Athens, Greece
- Present address: Université Libre de Bruxelles Institute of Molecular Biology and Medicine (IBMM), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Rob Habgood
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | | | - María Laura Harispe
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Unidad Mixta INIA-IPMont, Mataojo 2020, CP11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
- Present address: Instituto de Profesores Artigas, Consejo de Formación en Educación, ANEP, CP 11800, Av. del Libertador 2025, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Bernard Henrissat
- CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France
- INRA, USC 1408 AFMB, 13288 Marseille, France
- Department of Biological Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Kristiina S. Hildén
- Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ryan Hope
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Abeer Hossain
- Dutch DNA Biotech BV, Utrechtseweg 48, 3703AJ Zeist, The Netherlands
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Eugenia Karabika
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH UK
- Present Address: Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, 45110 Greece
| | - Levente Karaffa
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Zsolt Karányi
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Nada Kraševec
- Laboratory for Molecular Biology and Nanobiotechnology, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Alan Kuo
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Harald Kusch
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Genetics, Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Georg August University Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Medical Informatics, University Medical Centre, Robert-Koch-Str.40, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Molecular Biology, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, Humboldtallee 23, Göttingen, 37073 Germany
| | - Kurt LaButti
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Ellen L. Lagendijk
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Alla Lapidus
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
- Present address: Center for Algorithmic Biotechnology, St.Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Anthony Levasseur
- INRA, Aix-Marseille Univ, BBF, Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Fongiques, Marseille, France
- Present address: Aix-Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM U1095, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Pôle des Maladies Infectieuses, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, Faculté de Médecine, 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France
| | - Erika Lindquist
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Anna Lipzen
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Antonio F. Logrieco
- Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Andrew MacCabe
- Departamento de Biotecnología, Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Paterna, Valencia, Spain
| | - Miia R. Mäkelä
- Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Iran Malavazi
- Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo Brazil
| | - Petter Melin
- Uppsala BioCenter, Department of Microbiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7025, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
- Present address: Swedish Chemicals Agency, Box 2, 172 13 Sundbyberg, Sweden
| | - Vera Meyer
- Institute of Biotechnology, Department Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Berlin University of Technology, Gustav-Meyer-Allee 25, 13355 Berlin, Germany
| | - Natalia Mielnichuk
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Seville, Avda de Reina Mercedes 6, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
- Present address: Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Dr. César Milstein, Fundación Pablo Cassará, CONICET, Saladillo 2468 C1440FFX, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Márton Miskei
- Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- MTA-DE Momentum, Laboratory of Protein Dynamics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt.98., 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Ákos P. Molnár
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Giuseppina Mulé
- Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Chew Yee Ngan
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Margarita Orejas
- Departamento de Biotecnología, Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Paterna, Valencia, Spain
| | - Erzsébet Orosz
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Jean Paul Ouedraogo
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
- Present address: Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 Canada
| | - Karin M. Overkamp
- Dutch DNA Biotech BV, Utrechtseweg 48, 3703AJ Zeist, The Netherlands
| | - Hee-Soo Park
- School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701 Republic of Korea
| | - Giancarlo Perrone
- Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Francois Piumi
- INRA, Aix-Marseille Univ, BBF, Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Fongiques, Marseille, France
- Present address: INRA UMR1198 Biologie du Développement et de la Reproduction - Domaine de Vilvert, Jouy en Josas, 78352 Cedex France
| | - Peter J. Punt
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
- Dutch DNA Biotech BV, Utrechtseweg 48, 3703AJ Zeist, The Netherlands
| | - Arthur F. J. Ram
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Ana Ramón
- Sección Bioquímica, Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Stefan Rauscher
- Department of Microbiology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Biosciences, Hertzstrasse 16,, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Eric Record
- INRA, Aix-Marseille Univ, BBF, Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Fongiques, Marseille, France
| | - Diego Mauricio Riaño-Pachón
- Laboratório Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Caixa Postal 6192 CEP 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo Brasil
| | - Vincent Robert
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Julian Röhrig
- Department of Microbiology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Biosciences, Hertzstrasse 16,, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Roberto Ruller
- Laboratório Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Caixa Postal 6192 CEP 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo Brasil
| | - Asaf Salamov
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Nadhira S. Salih
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
- Department of Biology, School of Science, University of Sulaimani, Al Sulaymaneyah, Iraq
| | - Rob A. Samson
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Erzsébet Sándor
- Institute of Food Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Manuel Sanguinetti
- Sección Bioquímica, Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Tabea Schütze
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
- Present address: Department Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology, Berlin University of Technology, Gustav-Meyer-Allee 25, 13355 Berlin, Germany
| | - Kristina Sepčić
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ekaterina Shelest
- Systems Biology/Bioinformatics group, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knoell Institute, (HKI), Beutenbergstr. 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Gavin Sherlock
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5120 USA
| | - Vicky Sophianopoulou
- Institute of Biosciences and Applications, Microbial Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National Center for Scientific Research, Demokritos (NCSRD), Athens, Greece
| | - Fabio M. Squina
- Laboratório Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Caixa Postal 6192 CEP 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo Brasil
| | - Hui Sun
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| | - Antonia Susca
- Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Richard B. Todd
- Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506 USA
| | - Adrian Tsang
- Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 Canada
| | - Shiela E. Unkles
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH UK
| | - Nathalie van de Wiele
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Diana van Rossen-Uffink
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
- Present address: BaseClear B.V., Einsteinweg 5, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Juliana Velasco de Castro Oliveira
- Laboratório Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Caixa Postal 6192 CEP 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo Brasil
| | - Tammi C. Vesth
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads 223, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Jaap Visser
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jae-Hyuk Yu
- Departments of Bacteriology and Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1550 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706 USA
| | - Miaomiao Zhou
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Mikael R. Andersen
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads 223, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - David B. Archer
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Scott E. Baker
- Fungal Biotechnology Team, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, 99352 USA
| | - Isabelle Benoit
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Present address: Centre of Functional and Structure Genomics Biology Department Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 Canada
| | - Axel A. Brakhage
- Department of Molecular and Applied Microbiology, Leibniz-Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knoell Institute (HKI) and Institute for Microbiology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Beutenbergstr. 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Gerhard H. Braus
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Genetics, Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Georg August University Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Reinhard Fischer
- Department of Microbiology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Biosciences, Hertzstrasse 16,, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Jens C. Frisvad
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads 223, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Gustavo H. Goldman
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. do Café S/N, CEP 14040-903 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo Brazil
| | - Jos Houbraken
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Berl Oakley
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 USA
| | - István Pócsi
- Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Claudio Scazzocchio
- Department of Microbiology, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ UK
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), CEA, CNRS, University Paris‐Sud, Université Paris‐Saclay, 91198 Gif‐sur‐Yvette cedex, France
| | - Bernhard Seiboth
- Research Division Biochemical Technology, Institute of Chemical Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorferstraße 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria
| | - Patricia A. vanKuyk
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Jennifer Wortman
- Broad Institute, 415 Main St, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
- Present address: Seres Therapeutics, 200 Sidney St, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
| | - Paul S. Dyer
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Igor V. Grigoriev
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA
| |
Collapse
|
200
|
Erg4A and Erg4B Are Required for Conidiation and Azole Resistance via Regulation of Ergosterol Biosynthesis in Aspergillus fumigatus. Appl Environ Microbiol 2017; 83:AEM.02924-16. [PMID: 27986720 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02924-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2016] [Accepted: 12/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Ergosterol, a fungus-specific sterol enriched in cell plasma membranes, is an effective antifungal drug target. However, current knowledge of the ergosterol biosynthesis process in the saprophytic human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus remains limited. In this study, we found that two endoplasmic reticulum-localized sterol C-24 reductases encoded by both erg4A and erg4B homologs are required to catalyze the reaction during the final step of ergosterol biosynthesis. Loss of one homolog of Erg4 induces the overexpression of the other one, accompanied by almost normal ergosterol synthesis and wild-type colony growth. However, double deletions of erg4A and erg4B completely block the last step of ergosterol synthesis, resulting in the accumulation of ergosta-5,7,22,24(28)-tetraenol, a precursor compound of ergosterol. Further studies indicate that erg4A and erg4B are required for conidiation but not for hyphal growth. Importantly, the Δerg4A Δerg4B mutant still demonstrates wild-type virulence in a compromised mouse model but displays remarkable increased susceptibility to antifungal azoles. Our data suggest that inhibitors of Erg4A and Erg4B may serve as effective candidates for adjunct antifungal agents with azoles. IMPORTANCE Knowledge of the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway in the human opportunistic pathogen A. fumigatus is useful for designing and finding new antifungal drugs. In this study, we demonstrated that the endoplasmic reticulum-localized sterol C-24 reductases Erg4A and Erg4B are required for conidiation via regulation of ergosterol biosynthesis. Moreover, inactivation of both Erg4A and Erg4B results in hypersensitivity to the clinical guideline-recommended antifungal drugs itraconazole and voriconazole. Therefore, our finding indicates that inhibition of Erg4A and Erg4B might be an effective approach for alleviating A. fumigatus infection.
Collapse
|