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Gene Mining for Conserved, Non-Annotated Proteins of Podosphaera xanthii Identifies Novel Target Candidates for Controlling Powdery Mildews by Spray-Induced Gene Silencing. J Fungi (Basel) 2021; 7:jof7090735. [PMID: 34575773 PMCID: PMC8465782 DOI: 10.3390/jof7090735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2021] [Revised: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The powdery mildew fungus Podosphaera xanthii is one of the most important limiting factors for cucurbit production worldwide. Despite the significant efforts made by breeding and chemical companies, effective control of this pathogen remains elusive to growers. In this work, we examined the suitability of RNAi technology called spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS) for controlling cucurbit powdery mildew. Using leaf disc and cotyledon infiltration assays, we tested the efficacy of dsRNA applications to induce gene silencing in P. xanthii. Furthermore, to identify new target candidate genes, we analyzed sixty conserved and non-annotated proteins (CNAPs) deduced from the P. xanthii transcriptome in silico. Six proteins presumably involved in essential functions, specifically respiration (CNAP8878, CNAP9066, CNAP10905 and CNAP30520), glycosylation (CNAP1048) and efflux transport (CNAP948), were identified. Functional analysis of these CNAP coding genes by dsRNA-induced gene silencing resulted in strong silencing phenotypes with large reductions in fungal growth and disease symptoms. Due to their important contributions to fungal development, the CNAP1048, CNAP10905 and CNAP30520 genes were selected as targets to conduct SIGS assays under plant growth chamber conditions. The spray application of these dsRNAs induced high levels of disease control, supporting that SIGS could be a sustainable approach to combat powdery mildew diseases.
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Varona S, Lavín JL, Oguiza JA. Secretomes of medically important fungi reflect morphological and phylogenetic diversity. Fungal Biol 2020; 124:915-923. [PMID: 33059843 DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2020.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Revised: 06/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Secretome represents a main target for understanding the mechanisms of fungal adaptation. In the present study, we focus on the secretomes of fungi associated with infections in humans and other mammals in order to explore relationships between the diverse morphological and phylogenetic groups. Almost all the mammalian pathogenic fungi analyzed have secretome sizes smaller than 1000 proteins and, secreted proteins comprise between 5% and 10% of the total proteome. As expected, the correlation pattern between the secretome size and the total proteome was similar to that described in previous secretome studies of fungi. With regard to the morphological groups, minimum secretome sizes of less than 250 secreted proteins and low values for the fraction of secreted proteins are shown in mammalian pathogenic fungi with reduced proteomes such as microsporidia, atypical fungi and some species of yeasts and yeast-like fungi (Malassezia). On the other hand, filamentous fungi have significantly more secreted proteins and the highest numbers are present in species of filamentous fungi that also are plant or insect pathogens (Fusarium verticilloides, Fusarium oxysporum and Basidiobolus meristosporus). With respect to phylogeny, there are also variations in secretome size across fungal subphyla: Microsporidia, Taphrinomycotina, Ustilagomycotina and Saccharomycotina contain small secretomes; whereas larger secretomes are found in Agaricomycotina, Pezizomycotina, Mucoromycotina and Entomophthoromycotina. Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on the complete secretomes. The PCA results revealed that, in general, secretomes of fungi belonging to the same morphological group or subphyla cluster together. In conclusion, our results point out that in medically important fungi there is a relationship between the secretome and the morphological group or phylogenetic classification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarai Varona
- Bioinformatics Unit, CIC BioGUNE-BRTA, Bizkaia Technology Park, 48160, Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - José L Lavín
- Bioinformatics Unit, CIC BioGUNE-BRTA, Bizkaia Technology Park, 48160, Derio, Bizkaia, Spain.
| | - José A Oguiza
- Genetics, Genomics and Microbiology Research Group, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology (IMAB), Universidad Pública de Navarra, 31006, Pamplona, Spain.
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Polonio Á, Seoane P, Claros MG, Pérez-García A. The haustorial transcriptome of the cucurbit pathogen Podosphaera xanthii reveals new insights into the biotrophy and pathogenesis of powdery mildew fungi. BMC Genomics 2019; 20:543. [PMID: 31272366 PMCID: PMC6611051 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-019-5938-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Podosphaera xanthii is the main causal agent of powdery mildew disease in cucurbits and is responsible for important yield losses in these crops worldwide. Powdery mildew fungi are obligate biotrophs. In these parasites, biotrophy is determined by the presence of haustoria, which are specialized structures of parasitism developed by these fungi for the acquisition of nutrients and the delivery of effectors. Detailed molecular studies of powdery mildew haustoria are scarce due mainly to difficulties in their isolation. Therefore, their analysis is considered an important challenge for powdery mildew research. The aim of this work was to gain insights into powdery mildew biology by analysing the haustorial transcriptome of P. xanthii. Results Prior to RNA isolation and massive-scale mRNA sequencing, a flow cytometric approach was developed to isolate P. xanthii haustoria free of visible contaminants. Next, several commercial kits were used to isolate total RNA and to construct the cDNA and Illumina libraries that were finally sequenced by the Illumina NextSeq system. Using this approach, the maximum amount of information from low-quality RNA that could be obtained was used to accomplish the de novo assembly of the P. xanthii haustorial transcriptome. The subsequent analysis of this transcriptome and comparison with the epiphytic transcriptome allowed us to identify the importance of several biological processes for haustorial cells such as protection against reactive oxygen species, the acquisition of different nutrients and genetic regulation mediated by non-coding RNAs. In addition, we could also identify several secreted proteins expressed exclusively in haustoria such as cell adhesion proteins that have not been related to powdery mildew biology to date. Conclusions This work provides a novel approach to study the molecular aspects of powdery mildew haustoria. In addition, the results of this study have also allowed us to identify certain previously unknown processes and proteins involved in the biology of powdery mildews that could be essential for their biotrophy and pathogenesis. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-019-5938-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Álvaro Polonio
- Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Bulevar Louis Pasteur 31, 29071, Málaga, Spain.,Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora", Universidad de Málaga, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Bulevar Louis Pasteur 31, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | - Pedro Seoane
- Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Bulevar Louis Pasteur 31, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | - M Gonzalo Claros
- Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Bulevar Louis Pasteur 31, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | - Alejandro Pérez-García
- Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Bulevar Louis Pasteur 31, 29071, Málaga, Spain. .,Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora", Universidad de Málaga, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Bulevar Louis Pasteur 31, 29071, Málaga, Spain.
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Molecular evidence for distinct modes of nutrient acquisition between visceral and neurotropic schistosomes of birds. Sci Rep 2019; 9:1347. [PMID: 30718911 PMCID: PMC6362228 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-37669-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Trichobilharzia species are parasitic flatworms (called schistosomes or flukes) that cause important diseases in birds and humans, but very little is known about their molecular biology. Here, using a transcriptomics-bioinformatics-based approach, we explored molecular aspects pertaining to the nutritional requirements of Trichobilharzia szidati (‘visceral fluke’) and T. regenti (‘neurotropic fluke’) in their avian host. We studied the larvae of each species before they enter (cercariae) and as they migrate (schistosomules) through distinct tissues in their avian (duck) host. Cercariae of both species were enriched for pathways or molecules associated predominantly with carbohydrate metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation and translation of proteins linked to ribosome biogenesis, exosome production and/or lipid biogenesis. Schistosomules of both species were enriched for pathways or molecules associated with processes including signal transduction, cell turnover and motility, DNA replication and repair, molecular transport and/or catabolism. Comparative informatic analyses identified molecular repertoires (within, e.g., peptidases and secretory proteins) in schistosomules that can broadly degrade macromolecules in both T. szidati and T. regenti, and others that are tailored to each species to selectively acquire nutrients from particular tissues through which it migrates. Thus, this study provides molecular evidence for distinct modes of nutrient acquisition between the visceral and neurotropic flukes of birds.
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Cortazar AR, Oguiza JA, Aransay AM, Lavín JL. VerSeDa: vertebrate secretome database. DATABASE-THE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DATABASES AND CURATION 2017; 2017:3052689. [PMID: 28365718 PMCID: PMC5467544 DOI: 10.1093/database/baw171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2016] [Accepted: 12/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Based on the current tools, de novo secretome (full set of proteins secreted by an organism) prediction is a time consuming bioinformatic task that requires a multifactorial analysis in order to obtain reliable in silico predictions. Hence, to accelerate this process and offer researchers a reliable repository where secretome information can be obtained for vertebrates and model organisms, we have developed VerSeDa (Vertebrate Secretome Database). This freely available database stores information about proteins that are predicted to be secreted through the classical and non-classical mechanisms, for the wide range of vertebrate species deposited at the NCBI, UCSC and ENSEMBL sites. To our knowledge, VerSeDa is the only state-of-the-art database designed to store secretome data from multiple vertebrate genomes, thus, saving an important amount of time spent in the prediction of protein features that can be retrieved from this repository directly. Database URL: VerSeDa is freely available at http://genomics.cicbiogune.es/VerSeDa/index.php
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana R Cortazar
- Genome Analysis Platform, CIC bioGUNE & CIBERehd, Bizkaia Technology Park, 48160 Derio, Spain
| | - José A Oguiza
- Genetics and Microbiology Research Group, Department of Agrarian Production, Public University of Navarre, 31006 Pamplona, Spain
| | - Ana M Aransay
- Genome Analysis Platform, CIC bioGUNE & CIBERehd, Bizkaia Technology Park, 48160 Derio, Spain
| | - José L Lavín
- Genome Analysis Platform, CIC bioGUNE & CIBERehd, Bizkaia Technology Park, 48160 Derio, Spain
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Ponnudurai R, Sayavedra L, Kleiner M, Heiden SE, Thürmer A, Felbeck H, Schlüter R, Sievert SM, Daniel R, Schweder T, Markert S. Genome sequence of the sulfur-oxidizing Bathymodiolus thermophilus gill endosymbiont. Stand Genomic Sci 2017; 12:50. [PMID: 28878861 PMCID: PMC5581435 DOI: 10.1186/s40793-017-0266-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Accepted: 08/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Bathymodiolus thermophilus, a mytilid mussel inhabiting the deep-sea hydrothermal vents of the East Pacific Rise, lives in symbiosis with chemosynthetic Gammaproteobacteria within its gills. The intracellular symbiont population synthesizes nutrients for the bivalve host using the reduced sulfur compounds emanating from the vents as energy source. As the symbiont is uncultured, comprehensive and detailed insights into its metabolism and its interactions with the host can only be obtained from culture-independent approaches such as genomics and proteomics. In this study, we report the first draft genome sequence of the sulfur-oxidizing symbiont of B. thermophilus, here tentatively named Candidatus Thioglobus thermophilus. The draft genome (3.1 Mb) harbors 3045 protein-coding genes. It revealed pathways for the use of sulfide and thiosulfate as energy sources and encodes the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle for CO2 fixation. Enzymes required for the synthesis of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates oxaloacetate and succinate were absent, suggesting that these intermediates may be substituted by metabolites from external sources. We also detected a repertoire of genes associated with cell surface adhesion, bacteriotoxicity and phage immunity, which may perform symbiosis-specific roles in the B. thermophilus symbiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruby Ponnudurai
- Institute of Pharmacy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Lizbeth Sayavedra
- Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Department of Symbiosis, Bremen, Germany
| | - Manuel Kleiner
- Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - Stefan E Heiden
- Institute of Pharmacy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Andrea Thürmer
- Department of Genomic and Applied Microbiology & Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Horst Felbeck
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA USA
| | - Rabea Schlüter
- Imaging Center of the Department of Biology, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Stefan M Sievert
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biology Department, Woods Hole, MA USA
| | - Rolf Daniel
- Department of Genomic and Applied Microbiology & Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Schweder
- Institute of Pharmacy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany.,Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Walther-Rathenau-Straße 49A, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Stephanie Markert
- Institute of Pharmacy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany.,Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Walther-Rathenau-Straße 49A, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
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Perilla-Henao LM, Casteel CL. Vector-Borne Bacterial Plant Pathogens: Interactions with Hemipteran Insects and Plants. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2016; 7:1163. [PMID: 27555855 PMCID: PMC4977473 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2016] [Accepted: 07/20/2016] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Hemipteran insects are devastating pests of crops due to their wide host range, rapid reproduction, and ability to transmit numerous plant-infecting pathogens as vectors. While the field of plant-virus-vector interactions has flourished in recent years, plant-bacteria-vector interactions remain poorly understood. Leafhoppers and psyllids are by far the most important vectors of bacterial pathogens, yet there are still significant gaps in our understanding of their feeding behavior, salivary secretions, and plant responses as compared to important viral vectors, such as whiteflies and aphids. Even with an incomplete understanding of plant-bacteria-vector interactions, some common themes have emerged: (1) all known vector-borne bacteria share the ability to propagate in the plant and insect host; (2) particular hemipteran families appear to be incapable of transmitting vector-borne bacteria; (3) all known vector-borne bacteria have highly reduced genomes and coding capacity, resulting in host-dependence; and (4) vector-borne bacteria encode proteins that are essential for colonization of specific hosts, though only a few types of proteins have been investigated. Here, we review the current knowledge on important vector-borne bacterial pathogens, including Xylella fastidiosa, Spiroplasma spp., Liberibacter spp., and 'Candidatus Phytoplasma spp.'. We then highlight recent approaches used in the study of vector-borne bacteria. Finally, we discuss the application of this knowledge for control and future directions that will need to be addressed in the field of vector-plant-bacteria interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Clare L. Casteel
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CAUSA
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