Libraries for two-hybrid screening of yeast and hyphal growth forms in Zymoseptoria tritici

Screening and production of an affibody inhibiting the interaction of the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint

An affibody is a 58 amino acids peptide derived from the Z domain of staphylococcal protein A and generally applied in areas such as imaging diagnosis, clinical therapeutics and biotechnology research. To screen for an affibody targeting the immune checkpoint PD-L1, a combinatorial affibody library was generated in yeast using degenerate overlap PCR primers and In-fusion technology. Z-j1 and Z-j2 affibodies targeting the Ig-like V domain of PD-L1 were screened and identified from this combinatorial library using the yeast two hybrid system. The Z-j1 and Z-j2 recombinant affibody proteins were over produced in E.coli and purified. ELISA and GST pull-down assays showed that recombinant Z-j1 and Z-j2 affibody proteins bound with high affinity to PD-L1 and inhibited the interaction of PD-1/PD-L1. Thus, novel affibodies targeting the immune checkpoint PD-1/PD-L1 were identified and produced in this study and have the potential to be used in cancer immunotherapy.

Cell Biology of Hyphal Growth

Filamentous fungi are a large and ancient clade of microorganisms that occupy a broad range of ecological niches. The success of filamentous fungi is largely due to their elongate hypha, a chain of cells, separated from each other by septa. Hyphae grow by polarized exocytosis at the apex, which allows the fungus to overcome long distances and invade many substrates, including soils and host tissues. Hyphal tip growth is initiated by establishment of a growth site and the subsequent maintenance of the growth axis, with transport of growth supplies, including membranes and proteins, delivered by motors along the cytoskeleton to the hyphal apex. Among the enzymes delivered are cell wall synthases that are exocytosed for local synthesis of the extracellular cell wall. Exocytosis is opposed by endocytic uptake of soluble and membrane-bound material into the cell. The first intracellular compartment in the endocytic pathway is the early endosomes, which emerge to perform essential additional functions as spatial organizers of the hyphal cell. Individual compartments within septated hyphae can communicate with each other via septal pores, which allow passage of cytoplasm or organelles to help differentiation within the mycelium. This article introduces the reader to more detailed aspects of hyphal growth in fungi.

Fluorescent markers of various organelles in the wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici

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17 vectors are described that allow labelling of 7 subcellular structures.

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The fluorescent markers target the plasma membrane, endoplasmic reticulum, nucleus.

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Markers also target the actin cytoskeleton, peroxisomes and autophagosomes.

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These markers complete are toolkit of fluorescent reporters.

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Reporters allow cell biological studies in the Septoria tritici blotch fungus.

Development of novel strategies to control fungal plant pathogens requires understanding of their cellular organisation and biology. Live cell imaging of fluorescent organelle markers has provided valuable insight into various aspects of their cell biology, including invasion strategies in plant pathogenic fungi. Here, we introduce a set of 17 vectors that encode fluorescent markers to visualize the plasma membrane, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), chromosomes, the actin cytoskeleton, peroxisomes and autophagosomes in the wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici. We fused either enhanced green-fluorescent protein (eGFP) or a codon-optimised version of GFP (ZtGFP) to homologues of a plasma membrane-located Sso1-like syntaxin, an ER signalling and retention peptide, a histone H1 homologue, the LifeAct actin-binding peptide, a mitochondrial acetyl-CoA dehydrogenase, a peroxisomal import signal and a homologue of the ubiquitin-like autophagosomal protein Atg8. We expressed these markers in wildtype strain IPO323 and confirmed the specificity of these markers by counterstaining or physiological experiments. This new set of molecular tools will help understanding the cell biology of the wheat pathogen Z. tritici.

Taming a wild beast: Developing molecular tools and new methods to understand the biology of Zymoseptoria tritici

Septoria blotch of wheat is one of the world’s most serious plant diseases, which is difficult to control due to the absence of durable host resistance and the increasing frequency of fungicide-resistance. The ascomycete fungus that causes the disease, Zymoseptoria tritici, has been very challenging to study. This special issue of Fungal Genetics and Biology showcases an integrated approach to method development and the innovation of new molecular tools to study the biology of Z. tritici. When considered together, these new methods will have a rapid and dramatic effect on our ability to combat this significant disease.