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Moyano A, Croce AC, Scolari F. Pathogen-Mediated Alterations of Insect Chemical Communication: From Pheromones to Behavior. Pathogens 2023; 12:1350. [PMID: 38003813 PMCID: PMC10675518 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12111350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathogens can influence the physiology and behavior of both animal and plant hosts in a manner that promotes their own transmission and dispersal. Recent research focusing on insects has revealed that these manipulations can extend to the production of pheromones, which are pivotal in chemical communication. This review provides an overview of the current state of research and available data concerning the impacts of bacterial, viral, fungal, and eukaryotic pathogens on chemical communication across different insect orders. While our understanding of the influence of pathogenic bacteria on host chemical profiles is still limited, viral infections have been shown to induce behavioral changes in the host, such as altered pheromone production, olfaction, and locomotion. Entomopathogenic fungi affect host chemical communication by manipulating cuticular hydrocarbons and pheromone production, while various eukaryotic parasites have been observed to influence insect behavior by affecting the production of pheromones and other chemical cues. The effects induced by these infections are explored in the context of the evolutionary advantages they confer to the pathogen. The molecular mechanisms governing the observed pathogen-mediated behavioral changes, as well as the dynamic and mutually influential relationships between the pathogen and its host, are still poorly understood. A deeper comprehension of these mechanisms will prove invaluable in identifying novel targets in the perspective of practical applications aimed at controlling detrimental insect species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Moyano
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Abbiategrasso 207, I-27100 Pavia, Italy; (A.M.); (A.C.C.)
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Anna Cleta Croce
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Abbiategrasso 207, I-27100 Pavia, Italy; (A.M.); (A.C.C.)
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Francesca Scolari
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Abbiategrasso 207, I-27100 Pavia, Italy; (A.M.); (A.C.C.)
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 9, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
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Elya C, De Fine Licht HH. The genus Entomophthora: bringing the insect destroyers into the twenty-first century. IMA Fungus 2021; 12:34. [PMID: 34763728 PMCID: PMC8588673 DOI: 10.1186/s43008-021-00084-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The fungal genus Entomophthora consists of highly host-specific pathogens that cause deadly epizootics in their various insect hosts. The most well-known among these is the "zombie fly" fungus E. muscae, which, like other Entomophthora species, elicits a series of dramatic behaviors in infected hosts to promote optimal spore dispersal. Despite having been first described more than 160 years ago, there are still many open questions about Entomophthora biology, including the molecular underpinnings of host behavior manipulation and host specificity. This review provides a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of the biology of Entomophthora fungi and enumerates the most pressing outstanding questions that should be addressed in the field. We briefly review the discovery of Entomophthora and provide a summary of the 21 recognized Entomophthora species, including their type hosts, methods of transmission (ejection of spores after or before host death), and for which molecular data are available. Further, we argue that this genus is globally distributed, based on a compilation of Entomophthora records in the literature and in online naturalist databases, and likely to contain additional species. Evidence for strain-level specificity of hosts is summarized and directly compared to phylogenies of Entomophthora and the class Insecta. A detailed description of Entomophthora's life-cycle and observed manipulated behaviors is provided and used to summarize a consensus for ideal growth conditions. We discuss evidence for Entomophthora's adaptation to growth exclusively inside insects, such as producing wall-less hyphal bodies and a unique set of subtilisin-like proteases to penetrate the insect cuticle. However, we are only starting to understand the functions of unusual molecular and genomic characteristics, such as having large > 1 Gb genomes full of repetitive elements and potential functional diploidy. We argue that the high host-specificity and obligate life-style of most Entomophthora species provides ample scope for having been shaped by close coevolution with insects despite the current general lack of such evidence. Finally, we propose six major directions for future Entomophthora research and in doing so hope to provide a foundation for future studies of these fungi and their interaction with insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Henrik H De Fine Licht
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark
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Shin TY, Lee MR, Park SE, Lee SJ, Kim WJ, Kim JS. Pathogenesis-related genes of entomopathogenic fungi. ARCHIVES OF INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY 2020; 105:e21747. [PMID: 33029869 DOI: 10.1002/arch.21747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
All living things on Earth experience various diseases such as those caused by viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Insects are no exception to this rule, and fungi that cause disease in insects are called entomopathogenic fungi. These fungi have been developed as microbial insecticides and are used to control various pests. Generally, the mode of action of entomopathogenic fungi is divided into the attachment of conidia, germination, penetration, growth, and generation of secondary infectious conidia. In each of these steps, that entomopathogenic fungi use genes in a complex manner (specific or diverse) has been shown by gene knock-out and RNA-sequencing analysis. In this review, the information mechanism of entomopathogenic fungi was divided into six steps: (1) attachment of conidia to host, (2) germination and appressorium, (3) penetration, (4) fungal growth in hemolymph, (5) conidia production on host, and (6) transmission and dispersal. The strategy used by the fungi in each step was described at the genetic level. In addition, an approach for studying the mode of action of the fungi is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tae Young Shin
- Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Mi Rong Lee
- Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - So Eun Park
- Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Se Jin Lee
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Woo Jin Kim
- Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae Su Kim
- Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
- Department of Agricultural Convergence Technology, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
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Lovett B, Macias A, Stajich JE, Cooley J, Eilenberg J, de Fine Licht HH, Kasson MT. Behavioral betrayal: How select fungal parasites enlist living insects to do their bidding. PLoS Pathog 2020; 16:e1008598. [PMID: 32555716 PMCID: PMC7302443 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Brian Lovett
- Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
| | - Angie Macias
- Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
| | - Jason E. Stajich
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology and Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, United States of America
| | - John Cooley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Jørgen Eilenberg
- Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Henrik H. de Fine Licht
- Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Matt T. Kasson
- Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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de Ruiter J, Arnbjerg-Nielsen SF, Herren P, Høier F, De Fine Licht HH, Jensen KH. Fungal artillery of zombie flies: infectious spore dispersal using a soft water cannon. J R Soc Interface 2019; 16:20190448. [PMID: 31662074 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Dead sporulating female fly cadavers infected by the house fly-pathogenic fungus Entomophthora muscae are attractive to healthy male flies, which by their physical inspection may mechanically trigger spore release and by their movement create whirlwind airflows that covers them in infectious conidia. The fungal artillery of E. muscae protrudes outward from the fly cadaver, and consists of a plethora of micrometric stalks that each uses a liquid-based turgor pressure build-up to eject a jet of protoplasm and the initially attached spore. The biophysical processes that regulate the release and range of spores, however, are unknown. To study the physics of ejection, we design a biomimetic 'soft cannon' that consists of a millimetric elastomeric barrel filled with fluid and plugged with a projectile. We precisely control the maximum pressure leading up to the ejection, and study the cannon efficiency as a function of its geometry and wall elasticity. In particular, we predict that ejection velocity decreases with spore size. The calculated flight trajectories under aerodynamic drag predict that the minimum spore size required to traverse a quiescent layer of a few millimetres around the fly cadaver is approximately 10 µm. This corroborates with the natural size of E. muscae conidia (approx. 27 µm) being large enough to traverse the boundary layer but small enough (less than 40 µm) to be lifted by air currents. Based on this understanding, we show how the fungal spores are able to reach a new host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jolet de Ruiter
- Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.,Agrotechnology and Food Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Pascal Herren
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1971 Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Freja Høier
- Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Henrik H De Fine Licht
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1971 Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Kaare H Jensen
- Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
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