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Zhang H, Kim MS, Huang J, Yan H, Yang T, Song L, Yu W, Shim WB. Transcriptome analysis of maize pathogen Fusarium verticillioides revealed FvLcp1, a secreted protein with type-D fungal LysM and chitin-binding domains, that plays important roles in pathogenesis and mycotoxin production. Microbiol Res 2022; 265:127195. [PMID: 36126492 DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2022.127195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Fusarium verticillioides is a key maize pathogen and produces fumonisins, a group of mycotoxins detrimental to humans and animals. Unfortunately, our understanding on how this fungus interacts with maize to trigger mycotoxin biosynthesis is limited. We performed a systematic computational network-based analysis of large-scale F. verticillioides RNA-seq datasets to identify gene subnetwork modules associated with virulence and fumonisin regulation. F. verticillioides was inoculated on two different maize lines, moderately resistant line hybrid 33K44 and highly susceptible line maize inbred line B73, to generate time-course RNA-Seq data. Among the highly discriminative subnetwork modules, we identified a putative hub gene FvLCP1, which encodes a putative a type-D fungal LysM protein with a signal peptide, three LysM domains, and two chitin binding domains. FvLcp1 is a unique protein that harbors these domains amongst five representative Fusarium species. FvLcp1 is a secreted protein important for fumonisin production with the LysM domain playing a critical role. The chitin-binding domain was essential for in vitro chitin binding. Using Magnaporthe oryzae, we learned that FvLcp1 accumulates in appressoria, suggesting that FvLcp1 is involved in host recognition and infection. Full length FvLcp1 suppressed BAX-triggered plant cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana. This unique type-D LysM secreted protein with a chitin-binding domain in F. verticillioides was shown to be potentially involved in suppressing host cell death and promoting fumonisin biosynthesis while the pathogen colonizes maize kernels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Zhang
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2132, USA.
| | - Man S Kim
- Clinical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jun Huang
- Fujian University Key Laboratory for Functional Genomics of Plant Fungal Pathogens, College of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Huijuan Yan
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2132, USA
| | - Tao Yang
- Fujian University Key Laboratory for Functional Genomics of Plant Fungal Pathogens, College of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Linlin Song
- Fujian University Key Laboratory for Functional Genomics of Plant Fungal Pathogens, College of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Wenying Yu
- Fujian University Key Laboratory for Functional Genomics of Plant Fungal Pathogens, College of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Won Bo Shim
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2132, USA.
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Zhang H, Yan H, Shim WB. Fusarium verticillioides SNARE protein FvSyn1 harbours two key functional motifs that play selective roles in fungal development and virulence. MICROBIOLOGY-SGM 2019; 165:1075-1085. [PMID: 31390325 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.000843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Fusarium verticillioides is one of the key fungal pathogens responsible for maize stalk rot. While stalk rot pathogens are prevalent worldwide, our understanding of the stalk rot virulence mechanism in pathogenic fungi is still very limited. We previously identified the F. verticillioides FvSYN1 gene, which was demonstrated to play an important role in maize stalk rot virulence. FvSyn1 belongs to a family of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins that play critical roles in a variety of developmental processes. In this study, we further characterized the cellular features of the FvSyn1 protein, namely how different motifs contribute to development and virulence in F. verticillioides by generating motif-specific deletion mutants. Microscopic observation showed that the ∆Fvsyn1 mutant exhibits rough and hyper-branched hyphae when compared to the wild-type progenitor. Moreover, the ∆Fvsyn1 mutant was sensitive to cell wall stress agents, resulting in vegetative growth reduction. We showed that the FvSyn1::GFP protein is associated with the endomembrane, but this did not clarify why the deletion of FvSyn1 led to stress sensitivity and aberrant hyphal development. Characterization of the FvSyn1 domains indicated that both the syntaxin N-terminus (SynN) domain and the SNARE C-terminus domain play distinct roles in fungal development, but also function collectively in the context of virulence. We also determined that two domains in FvSyn1 are not required for fumonisin production. Interestingly, these two domains were involved in carbon nutrient utilization, including pectin, starch and sorbitol. This study further characterized the role of FvSyn1 domains in hyphal growth, cell wall stress response and virulence in F. verticillioides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Zhang
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Huijuan Yan
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Won Bo Shim
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
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Expression profile analysis of maize in response to Setosphaeria turcica. Gene 2018; 659:100-108. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2018.03.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2017] [Revised: 02/27/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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Kim MS, Zhang H, Yan H, Yoon BJ, Shim WB. Characterizing co-expression networks underpinning maize stalk rot virulence in Fusarium verticillioides through computational subnetwork module analyses. Sci Rep 2018; 8:8310. [PMID: 29844502 PMCID: PMC5974142 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26505-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2017] [Accepted: 05/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Fusarium verticillioides is recognized as an important stalk rot pathogen of maize worldwide, but our knowledge of genetic mechanisms underpinning this pathosystem is limited. Previously, we identified a striatin-like protein Fsr1 that plays an important role in stalk rot. To further characterize transcriptome networks downstream of Fsr1, we performed next-generation sequencing (NGS) to investigate relative read abundance and also to infer co-expression networks utilizing the preprocessed expression data through partial correlation. We used a probabilistic pathway activity inference strategy to identify functional subnetwork modules likely involved in virulence. Each subnetwork modules consisted of multiple correlated genes with coordinated expression patterns, but the collective activation levels were significantly different in F. verticillioides wild type versus fsr1 mutant. We also identified putative hub genes from predicted subnetworks for functional validation and network robustness studies through mutagenesis, virulence and qPCR assays. Our results suggest that these genes are important virulence genes that regulate the expression of closely correlated genes, demonstrating that these are important hubs of their respective subnetworks. Lastly, we used key F. verticillioides virulence genes to computationally predict a subnetwork of maize genes that potentially respond to fungal genes by applying cointegration-correlation-expression strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man S Kim
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States.,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
| | - Huan Zhang
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
| | - Huijuan Yan
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
| | - Byung-Jun Yoon
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
| | - Won Bo Shim
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States.
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Shu X, Livingston DP, Woloshuk CP, Payne GA. Comparative Histological and Transcriptional Analysis of Maize Kernels Infected with Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium verticillioides. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2017; 8:2075. [PMID: 29270183 PMCID: PMC5723656 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.02075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2017] [Accepted: 11/20/2017] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium verticillioides infect maize kernels and contaminate them with the mycotoxins aflatoxin, and fumonisin, respectively. Genetic resistance in maize to these fungi and to mycotoxin contamination has been difficult to achieve due to lack of identified resistance genes. The objective of this study was to identify new candidate resistance genes by characterizing their temporal expression in response to infection and comparing expression of these genes with genes known to be associated with plant defense. Fungal colonization and transcriptional changes in kernels inoculated with each fungus were monitored at 4, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h post inoculation (hpi). Maize kernels responded by differential gene expression to each fungus within 4 hpi, before the fungi could be observed visually, but more genes were differentially expressed between 48 and 72 hpi, when fungal colonization was more extensive. Two-way hierarchal clustering analysis grouped the temporal expression profiles of the 5,863 differentially expressed maize genes over all time points into 12 clusters. Many clusters were enriched for genes previously associated with defense responses to either A. flavus or F. verticillioides. Also within these expression clusters were genes that lacked either annotation or assignment to functional categories. This study provided a comprehensive analysis of gene expression of each A. flavus and F. verticillioides during infection of maize kernels, it identified genes expressed early and late in the infection process, and it provided a grouping of genes of unknown function with similarly expressed defense related genes that could inform selection of new genes as targets in breeding strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaomei Shu
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States
| | - David P. Livingston
- Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States
| | - Charles P. Woloshuk
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Gary A. Payne
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States
- *Correspondence: Gary A. Payne, ;
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Wren JD, Thakkar S, Homayouni R, Johann DJ, Dozmorov MG. Proceedings of the 2015 MidSouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society (MCBIOS) Conference. BMC Bioinformatics 2015; 16 Suppl 13:S1. [PMID: 26424691 PMCID: PMC4596983 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2105-16-s13-s1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
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