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Schuster M, Schweizer G, Reißmann S, Happel P, Aßmann D, Rössel N, Güldener U, Mannhaupt G, Ludwig N, Winterberg S, Pellegrin C, Tanaka S, Vincon V, Presti LL, Wang L, Bender L, Gonzalez C, Vranes M, Kämper J, Seong K, Krasileva K, Kahmann R. Novel Secreted Effectors Conserved Among Smut Fungi Contribute to the Virulence of Ustilago maydis. MOLECULAR PLANT-MICROBE INTERACTIONS : MPMI 2024; 37:250-263. [PMID: 38416124 DOI: 10.1094/mpmi-09-23-0139-fi] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Fungal pathogens deploy a set of molecules (proteins, specialized metabolites, and sRNAs), so-called effectors, to aid the infection process. In comparison to other plant pathogens, smut fungi have small genomes and secretomes of 20 Mb and around 500 proteins, respectively. Previous comparative genomic studies have shown that many secreted effector proteins without known domains, i.e., novel, are conserved only in the Ustilaginaceae family. By analyzing the secretomes of 11 species within Ustilaginaceae, we identified 53 core homologous groups commonly present in this lineage. By collecting existing mutants and generating additional ones, we gathered 44 Ustilago maydis strains lacking single core effectors as well as 9 strains containing multiple deletions of core effector gene families. Pathogenicity assays revealed that 20 of these 53 mutant strains were affected in virulence. Among the 33 mutants that had no obvious phenotypic changes, 13 carried additional, sequence-divergent, structurally similar paralogs. We report a virulence contribution of seven previously uncharacterized single core effectors and of one effector family. Our results help to prioritize effectors for understanding U. maydis virulence and provide genetic resources for further characterization. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Schuster
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Weinberg 3, 06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Gabriel Schweizer
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
- Independent Data Lab UG, 80937 Munich, Germany
| | - Stefanie Reißmann
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Petra Happel
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Daniela Aßmann
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Nicole Rössel
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Ulrich Güldener
- Deutsches Herzzentrum München, Technische Universität München, 80636 München, Germany
| | - Gertrud Mannhaupt
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Nicole Ludwig
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
- Research & Development, Weed Control Bayer AG, Crop Science Division, 65926 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sarah Winterberg
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Clément Pellegrin
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Shigeyuki Tanaka
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Volker Vincon
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Libera Lo Presti
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Lei Wang
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Lena Bender
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, Phillips-University Marburg, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Carla Gonzalez
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Miroslav Vranes
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Biosciences, Department of Genetics, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Jörg Kämper
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Biosciences, Department of Genetics, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Kyungyong Seong
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A
| | - Ksenia Krasileva
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A
| | - Regine Kahmann
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043 Marburg, Germany
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Benson CW, Sheltra MR, Huff DR. The genome of Salmacisia buchloëana, the parasitic puppet master pulling strings of sexual phenotypic monstrosities in buffalograss. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2024; 14:jkad238. [PMID: 37847611 PMCID: PMC10849329 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
To complete its parasitic lifecycle, Salmacisia buchloëana, a biotrophic fungus, manipulates reproductive organ development, meristem determinacy, and resource allocation in its dioecious plant host, buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides; Poaceae). To gain insight into S. buchloëana's ability to manipulate its host, we sequenced and assembled the 20.1 Mb genome of S. buchloëana into 22 chromosome-level pseudomolecules. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that S. buchloëana is nested within the genus Tilletia and diverged from Tilletia caries and Tilletia walkeri ∼40 MYA. We find that S. buchloëana contains a novel chromosome arm with no syntenic relationship to other publicly available Tilletia genomes, and that genes on the novel arm are upregulated upon infection, suggesting that this unique chromosomal segment may have played a critical role in S. buchloëana's evolution and host specificity. Salmacisia buchloëana has one of the largest fractions of serine peptidases (1.53% of the proteome) and one of the highest GC contents (62.3%) in all classified fungi. Analysis of codon base composition indicated that GC content is controlled more by selective constraints than directional mutation, and that S. buchloëana has a unique bias for the serine codon UCG. Finally, we identify 3 inteins within the S. buchloëana genome, 2 of which are located in a gene often used in fungal taxonomy. The genomic and transcriptomic resources generated here will aid plant pathologists and breeders by providing insight into the extracellular components contributing to sex determination in dioecious grasses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher W Benson
- Department of Plant Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA
- Intercollegiate Graduate Degree Program in Plant Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA
| | - Matthew R Sheltra
- Department of Plant Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA
- Intercollegiate Graduate Degree Program in Plant Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA
| | - David R Huff
- Department of Plant Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA
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Thines M, Sharma R, Rodenburg SYA, Gogleva A, Judelson HS, Xia X, van den Hoogen J, Kitner M, Klein J, Neilen M, de Ridder D, Seidl MF, van den Ackerveken G, Govers F, Schornack S, Studholme DJ. The Genome of Peronospora belbahrii Reveals High Heterozygosity, a Low Number of Canonical Effectors, and TC-Rich Promoters. MOLECULAR PLANT-MICROBE INTERACTIONS : MPMI 2020; 33:742-753. [PMID: 32237964 DOI: 10.1094/mpmi-07-19-0211-r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Along with Plasmopara destructor, Peronosopora belbahrii has arguably been the economically most important newly emerging downy mildew pathogen of the past two decades. Originating from Africa, it has started devastating basil production throughout the world, most likely due to the distribution of infested seed material. Here, we present the genome of this pathogen and results from comparisons of its genomic features to other oomycetes. The assembly of the nuclear genome was around 35.4 Mbp in length, with an N50 scaffold length of around 248 kbp and an L50 scaffold count of 46. The circular mitochondrial genome consisted of around 40.1 kbp. From the repeat-masked genome, 9,049 protein-coding genes were predicted, out of which 335 were predicted to have extracellular functions, representing the smallest secretome so far found in peronosporalean oomycetes. About 16% of the genome consists of repetitive sequences, and, based on simple sequence repeat regions, we provide a set of microsatellites that could be used for population genetic studies of P. belbahrii. P. belbahrii has undergone a high degree of convergent evolution with other obligate parasitic pathogen groups, reflecting its obligate biotrophic lifestyle. Features of its secretome, signaling networks, and promoters are presented, and some patterns are hypothesized to reflect the high degree of host specificity in Peronospora species. In addition, we suggest the presence of additional virulence factors apart from classical effector classes that are promising candidates for future functional studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Thines
- Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60323 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
- Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
- Integrative Fungal Research (IPF) and Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG), Georg-Voigt-Str. 14-16, 60325 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
| | - Rahul Sharma
- Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60323 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
- Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
- Integrative Fungal Research (IPF) and Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG), Georg-Voigt-Str. 14-16, 60325 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
| | - Sander Y A Rodenburg
- Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Anna Gogleva
- University of Cambridge, Sainsbury Laboratory, 47 Bateman Street, Cambridge, CB2 1LR, U.K
| | - Howard S Judelson
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 U.S.A
| | - Xiaojuan Xia
- Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60323 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
- Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
| | - Johan van den Hoogen
- Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Miloslav Kitner
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Joël Klein
- Plant-Microbe Interactions, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Manon Neilen
- Plant-Microbe Interactions, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Dick de Ridder
- Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Michael F Seidl
- Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Guido van den Ackerveken
- Plant-Microbe Interactions, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Francine Govers
- Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sebastian Schornack
- University of Cambridge, Sainsbury Laboratory, 47 Bateman Street, Cambridge, CB2 1LR, U.K
| | - David J Studholme
- Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, U.K
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Courville KJ, Frantzeskakis L, Gul S, Haeger N, Kellner R, Heßler N, Day B, Usadel B, Gupta YK, van Esse HP, Brachmann A, Kemen E, Feldbrügge M, Göhre V. Smut infection of perennial hosts: the genome and the transcriptome of the Brassicaceae smut fungus Thecaphora thlaspeos reveal functionally conserved and novel effectors. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2019; 222:1474-1492. [PMID: 30663769 DOI: 10.1111/nph.15692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Biotrophic fungal plant pathogens can balance their virulence and form intricate relationships with their hosts. Sometimes, this leads to systemic host colonization over long time scales without macroscopic symptoms. However, how plant-pathogenic endophytes manage to establish their sustained systemic infection remains largely unknown. Here, we present a genomic and transcriptomic analysis of Thecaphora thlaspeos. This relative of the well studied grass smut Ustilago maydis is the only smut fungus adapted to Brassicaceae hosts. Its ability to overwinter with perennial hosts and its systemic plant infection including roots are unique characteristics among smut fungi. The T. thlaspeos genome was assembled to the chromosome level. It is a typical smut genome in terms of size and genome characteristics. In silico prediction of candidate effector genes revealed common smut effector proteins and unique members. For three candidates, we have functionally demonstrated effector activity. One of these, TtTue1, suggests a potential link to cold acclimation. On the plant side, we found evidence for a typical immune response as it is present in other infection systems, despite the absence of any macroscopic symptoms during infection. Our findings suggest that T. thlaspeos distinctly balances its virulence during biotrophic growth ultimately allowing for long-lived infection of its perennial hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlyn J Courville
- Institute for Microbiology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine University, Building 26.12.01, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
| | - Lamprinos Frantzeskakis
- Institute for Microbiology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine University, Building 26.12.01, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
| | - Summia Gul
- Institute for Microbiology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine University, Building 26.12.01, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
| | - Natalie Haeger
- Institute for Microbiology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine University, Building 26.12.01, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
| | - Ronny Kellner
- Institute for Microbiology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine University, Building 26.12.01, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, Cologne, 50829, Germany
| | - Natascha Heßler
- Institute for Microbiology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine University, Building 26.12.01, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
| | - Brad Day
- Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-6254, USA
| | - Björn Usadel
- Unit of Botany and Molecular Genetics, Institute for Biology I, BioSC, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany
| | | | | | - Andreas Brachmann
- Faculty of Biology, Genetics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Str. 2-4, Planegg-Martinsried, 82152, Germany
| | - Eric Kemen
- Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, Cologne, 50829, Germany
| | - Michael Feldbrügge
- Institute for Microbiology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine University, Building 26.12.01, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
| | - Vera Göhre
- Institute for Microbiology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine University, Building 26.12.01, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
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Sharma R, Ökmen B, Doehlemann G, Thines M. Saprotrophic yeasts formerly classified as Pseudozyma have retained a large effector arsenal, including functional Pep1 orthologs. Mycol Prog 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s11557-019-01486-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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A fungal substrate mimicking molecule suppresses plant immunity via an inter-kingdom conserved motif. Nat Commun 2019; 10:1576. [PMID: 30952847 PMCID: PMC6450895 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09472-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Accepted: 03/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Ustilago maydis is a biotrophic fungus causing corn smut disease in maize. The secreted effector protein Pit2 is an inhibitor of papain-like cysteine proteases (PLCPs) essential for virulence. Pit2 inhibitory function relies on a conserved 14 amino acids motif (PID14). Here we show that synthetic PID14 peptides act more efficiently as PLCP inhibitors than the full-length Pit2 effector. Mass spectrometry shows processing of Pit2 by maize PLCPs, which releases an inhibitory core motif from the PID14 sequence. Mutational analysis demonstrates that two conserved residues are essential for Pit2 function. We propose that the Pit2 effector functions as a substrate mimicking molecule: Pit2 is a suitable substrate for apoplastic PLCPs and its processing releases the embedded inhibitor peptide, which in turn blocks PLCPs to modulate host immunity. Remarkably, the PID14 core motif is present in several plant associated fungi and bacteria, indicating the existence of a conserved microbial inhibitor of proteases (cMIP).
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Schweizer G, Münch K, Mannhaupt G, Schirawski J, Kahmann R, Dutheil JY. Positively Selected Effector Genes and Their Contribution to Virulence in the Smut Fungus Sporisorium reilianum. Genome Biol Evol 2018; 10:629-645. [PMID: 29390140 PMCID: PMC5811872 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evy023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Plants and fungi display a broad range of interactions in natural and agricultural ecosystems ranging from symbiosis to parasitism. These ecological interactions result in coevolution between genes belonging to different partners. A well-understood example is secreted fungal effector proteins and their host targets, which play an important role in pathogenic interactions. Biotrophic smut fungi (Basidiomycota) are well-suited to investigate the evolution of plant pathogens, because several reference genomes and genetic tools are available for these species. Here, we used the genomes of Sporisorium reilianum f. sp. zeae and S. reilianum f. sp. reilianum, two closely related formae speciales infecting maize and sorghum, respectively, together with the genomes of Ustilago hordei, Ustilago maydis, and Sporisorium scitamineum to identify and characterize genes displaying signatures of positive selection. We identified 154 gene families having undergone positive selection during species divergence in at least one lineage, among which 77% were identified in the two investigated formae speciales of S. reilianum. Remarkably, only 29% of positively selected genes encode predicted secreted proteins. We assessed the contribution to virulence of nine of these candidate effector genes in S. reilianum f. sp. zeae by deleting individual genes, including a homologue of the effector gene pit2 previously characterized in U. maydis. Only the pit2 deletion mutant was found to be strongly reduced in virulence. Additional experiments are required to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the selection forces acting on the other candidate effector genes, as well as the large fraction of positively selected genes encoding predicted cytoplasmic proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Schweizer
- Department of Organismic Interactions, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Karin Münch
- Department of Organismic Interactions, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Gertrud Mannhaupt
- Department of Organismic Interactions, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
- Institute for Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Jan Schirawski
- Department of Organismic Interactions, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
- Microbial Genetics, Institute of Applied Microbiology, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Regine Kahmann
- Department of Organismic Interactions, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Julien Y Dutheil
- Department of Organismic Interactions, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
- Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier, “Genome” Department, CNRS, University of Montpellier 2, France
- Research Group Molecular Systems Evolution, Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
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8
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Schuster M, Schweizer G, Kahmann R. Comparative analyses of secreted proteins in plant pathogenic smut fungi and related basidiomycetes. Fungal Genet Biol 2017; 112:21-30. [PMID: 28089076 DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2016.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2016] [Revised: 12/13/2016] [Accepted: 12/15/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
In the ten years since the genome sequence of the basidiomycete corn smut fungus Ustilago maydis was published, additional genomes of smut species infecting different hosts became available. In addition, the genomes of related Malassezia species causing skin diseases and of Pseudozyma species not known to infect plants were determined. As secreted proteins are critical virulence determinants in U. maydis we compare here the secretomes of 12 basidiomycete species to gain information about their composition and conservation. For this we classify secreted proteins into those with and without domains using InterPro scans. Homology among proteins is inferred by building clusters based on pairwise similarities and cluster presence is then assessed in the different species. We detect in particular a strong correspondence between the secretomes of Pseudozyma species and plant infecting smuts. Furthermore, we identify a high proportion of secreted proteins to be part of gene families and present an advancement of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology for simultaneous disruption of multiple genes in U. maydis using five genes of the eff1 family as example.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Schuster
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Dept. Organismic Interactions, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Gabriel Schweizer
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Dept. Organismic Interactions, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Regine Kahmann
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Dept. Organismic Interactions, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
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Toh SS, Perlin MH. Resurgence of Less-Studied Smut Fungi as Models of Phytopathogenesis in the Omics Age. PHYTOPATHOLOGY 2016; 106:1244-1254. [PMID: 27111800 DOI: 10.1094/phyto-02-16-0075-rvw] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The smut fungi form a large, diverse, and nonmonophyletic group of plant pathogens that have long served as both important pests of human agriculture and, also, as fertile organisms of scientific investigation. As modern techniques of molecular genetic analysis became available, many previously studied species that proved refractive to these techniques fell by the wayside and were neglected. Now, as the advent of rapid and affordable next-generation sequencing provides genomic and transcriptomic resources for even these "forgotten" fungi, several species are making a comeback and retaking prominent places in phytopathogenic research. In this review, we highlight several of these smut fungi, with special emphasis on Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae, an anther smut whose molecular genetic tools have finally begun to catch up with its historical importance in classical genetics and now provide mechanistic insights for ecological studies, evolution of host-pathogen interaction, and investigations of emerging infectious disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su San Toh
- First and second authors: Department of Biology and Program on Disease Evolution, University of Louisville, Kentucky; and first author: Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute, DSO National Laboratories, Singapore
| | - Michael H Perlin
- First and second authors: Department of Biology and Program on Disease Evolution, University of Louisville, Kentucky; and first author: Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute, DSO National Laboratories, Singapore
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Integrative analysis of the West African Ceraceosorus africanus sp. nov. provides insights into the diversity, biogeography, and evolution of the enigmatic Ceraceosorales (Fungi: Ustilaginomycotina). ORG DIVERS EVOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-016-0285-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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