Calcium restores prepenetration morphogenesis abolished by polyamines inColletotrichum gloeosporioidesinfecting red pepper

Role of phospholipase C in banana in response to anthracnose infection

Phospholipase C (PLC) plays an important role in plant immunity, and anthracnose caused by the Colletotrichum species is a common postharvest disease of the banana fruit. This study aims to evaluate the role of PLC in anthrax resistance in banana. The experimental group of banana samples was treated with a banana anthracnose conidia suspension, and the control group was treated with distilled water. After inoculation, the groups were sprayed with ethephon, and indicators, such as hardness and conductivity changes; PLC activity, 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG) and phosphatidic acid (PA)content; and MaPLC-1and MaPLC-2 expression levels, were assessed at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 days. Moreover, the expression levels of MaPLC-1 and MaPLC-2 were detected in various tissues. The hardness of banana fruits in the experimental group decreased faster than that in the control group. Furthermore, the conductivity was higher in the experimental group than in the control group. Regarding PLC activity, DAG, and PA content, bananas in the experimental group showed higher activities than those in the control group. Moreover, relatively higher expression of PLC mRNA was detected in anthracnose-inoculated tissues. The evaluation of MaPLC-1 and MaPLC-2 expression levels showed that the mature peel had the highest MaPLC-1 expression level. However, the MaPLC-2 gene was expressed at relatively low levels in the fruit and at relatively high levels in the flower organs. PLC might play a role in fruit ripening in response to anthracnose resistance.

Polyamine metabolism in fungi with emphasis on phytopathogenic species

Polyamines are essential metabolites present in all living organisms, and this subject has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide interested in defining their mode of action in the variable cell functions in which they are involved, from growth to development and differentiation. Although the mechanism of polyamine synthesis is almost universal, different biological groups show interesting differences in this aspect that require to be further analyzed. For these studies, fungi represent interesting models because of their characteristics and facility of analysis. During the last decades fungi have contributed to the understanding of polyamine metabolism. The use of specific inhibitors and the isolation of mutants have allowed the manipulation of the pathway providing information on its regulation. During host-fungus interaction polyamine metabolism suffers striking changes in response to infection, which requires examination. Additionally the role of polyamine transporter is getting importance because of its role in polyamine regulation. In this paper we analyze the metabolism of polyamines in fungi, and the difference of this process with other biological groups. Of particular importance is the difference of polyamine biosynthesis between fungi and plants, which makes this process an attractive target for the control of phytopathogenic fungi.

A Candida albicans cell wall-linked protein promotes invasive filamentation into semi-solid medium

Growth of cells in contact with an abiotic or biological surface profoundly affects cellular physiology. In the opportunistic human pathogen, Candida albicans, growth on a semi-solid matrix such as agar results in invasive filamentation, a process in which cells change their morphology to highly elongated filamentous hyphae that grow into the matrix. We hypothesized that a plasma membrane receptor-type protein would sense the presence of matrix and activate a signal transduction cascade, thus promoting invasive filamentation. In this communication, we demonstrate that during growth in contact with a semi-solid surface, activation of a MAP kinase, Cek1p, is promoted, in part, by a plasma membrane protein termed Dfi1p and results in invasive filamentation. A C. albicans mutant lacking Dfi1p showed reduced virulence in a murine model of disseminated candidiasis. Dfi1p is a relatively small, integral membrane protein that localizes to the plasma membrane. Some Dfi1p molecules become cross-linked to the carbohydrate polymers of the cell wall. Thus, Dfi1p is capable of linking the cell wall to the plasma membrane and cytoplasm.

Phospholipase C-mediated calcium signalling is required for fungal development and pathogenicity in Magnaporthe oryzae

Calcium signalling has profound implications in the fungal infection of plants and animals, during which a series of physiological and morphological transitions are required. In this article, using a model fungal pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae, we demonstrate that the regulation of the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](int)) is essential for fungal development and pathogenesis. Imaging of [Ca(2+)](int) showed that infection-specific morphogenesis is highly correlated with the spatiotemporal regulation of calcium flux. Deletion of the fungal phospholipase C gene (M. oryzae phospholipase C 1, MoPLC1) suppressed calcium flux, resulting in a fungus defective in developmental steps, including appressorium formation and pathogenicity. Surprisingly, the PLC-delta1 gene of mouse was able to functionally substitute for MoPLC1 by restoring the calcium flux, suggesting the evolutionary conservation of the phospholipase C-mediated regulation of calcium flux. Our results reveal that MoPLC1 is a conserved modulator of calcium flux that is essential for the regulation of key steps in fungal development and pathogenesis.

Calcium Restores Prepenetration Morphogenesis Abolished by Methylglyoxal-Bis-Guanyl Hydrazone in Cochliobolus miyabeanus Infecting Rice

ABSTRACT Cochliobolus miyabeanus forms a specialized infection structure, an appressorium, to infect its host rice plants. Curtailment of prepenetration development by spermidine and spermine was more evident in appressorium development and germination remained unaffected, whereas putrescine and methylglyoxal-bis-guanyl hydrazone (MGBG) impaired both morphogenetic events. Exogenous calcium nullified the inhibitory effect of MGBG on the prepenetration development in vitro and in vivo and the disease progression. High levels of polyamines were detected in freshly collected conidia, but the amounts were reduced during germination and appressorium formation. MGBG fortified the decrease of polyamines within conidia under development and calcium amendment did not affect the reduction. Hard-surface contact augmented messenger RNA synthesis of calmodulin gene (CmCaM) and protein kinase C (PKC) activity in germinating or appressorium-forming conidia. Calcium restored transcription of CmCaM and upregulation of PKC activity suppressed by MGBG. Taken together, fine-tuning of intracellular polyamine transition is indispensable for the conidial germination and appressorium formation in C. miyabeanus. Biochemical and molecular analyses revealed that the MGBG-acting site or sites are upstream of Ca(2+)-dependent signaling pathways regulating prepenetration morphogenesis of C. miyabeanus causing rice brown leaf spot.

Morphology and lipid body and vacuole dynamics during secondary conidia formation in Colletotrichum acutatum: laser scanning confocal analysis

Colletotrichum acutatum may develop one or more secondary conidia after conidial germination and before mycelial growth. Secondary conidia formation and germination were influenced by conidia concentration. Concentrations greater than 1x105 conidia/mL were associated with germination decrease and with secondary conidia emergence. Secondary conidia can form either alone or simultaneously with germ tubes and appressoria. Confocal analysis showed numerous lipid bodies stored inside ungerminated conidia, which diminished during germ tube and appressoria formation, with or without secondary conidia formation. They were also reduced during secondary conidia formation alone. While there was a decrease inside germinated conidia, lipid bodies appeared inside secondary conidia since the initial stages. Intense vacuolization inside primary germinated conidia occurred at the same time as the decrease in lipid bodies, which were internalized and digested by vacuoles. During these events, small acidic vesicles inside secondary conidia were formed. Considering that the conidia were maintained in distilled water, with no exogenous nutrients, it is clear that ungerminated conidia contain enough stored lipids to form germ tubes, appressoria, and the additional secondary conidia replete with lipid reserves. These results suggested a very complex and well-balanced regulation that makes possible the catabolic and anabolic pathways of these lipid bodies.

Recognition events in AM symbiosis: analysis of fungal gene expression at the early appressorium stage

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is induced upon a series of recognition events involving the reorganization of both plant and fungal cellular programs culminating in the formation of appressoria on the epidermal root cells. In this work we monitored for the first time the genetic changes occurring in the fungal partner during early appressorium development. We established an in vitro system of Glomus mosseae and Petroselinum crispum for studying appressorium formation and found that after 120 h first appressoria developed in the root epidermis. We have constructed a fungal subtractive suppressive library enriched in genes up-regulated at this stage. Our aim was to identify early signaling events during plant recognition leading to appressoria formation. The library contains 375 clones with an average size of 500 bp. From these, 200 clones were sequenced and most of them represent gene fragments with no known homologues (63%) and therefore putative new genes specific to the mycorrhiza symbiosis. Reverse-Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses confirmed that ca. 30% of the genes present in the library were up-regulated upon plant induction after 120 h. Among the genes with homologues in other organisms we found several genes common to other plant-microbe interactions including some genes related to Ca2+-dependent signaling. The up-regulation of these genes opens the possibility that Ca2+ plays a role in the early stages of mycorrhiza formation as it has been found in other plant-microbe interactions such as the Rhizobium symbiosis or the Magnaporthe grisea/rice pathogenic interaction.

Glucosylceramides inColletotrichum gloeosporioidesare involved in the differentiation of conidia into mycelial cells

Glucosylceramides (GlcCer) were extracted from the plant pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and purified by several chromatographic steps. By using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance, GlcCer from C. gloeosporioides were identified as N-2'-hydroxyoctadecanoyl-1-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-9-methyl-4,8-sphingadienine and N-2'-hydroxyoctadecenoyl-1-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-9-methyl-4,8-sphingadienine. Monoclonal antibodies against these structures were produced and used as tools for the evaluation of the role of GlcCer in the morphological transition of C. gloeosporioides. In the presence of antibodies to GlcCer, the differentiation of conidia into mycelia was blocked. Since GlcCer is present in several plant pathogens, the inhibitory activity of external ligands recognizing these structures may be applicable in other models of fungal infections.