UDP-glucose 4, 6-dehydratase activity plays an important role in maintaining cell wall integrity and virulence of Candida albicans

Phyllosphere bacterial community dynamics in response to bacterial wildfire disease: succession and interaction patterns

Plants interact with complex microbial communities in which microorganisms play different roles in plant development and health. While certain microorganisms may cause disease, others promote nutrient uptake and resistance to stresses through a variety of mechanisms. Developing plant protection measures requires a deeper comprehension of the factors that influence multitrophic interactions and the organization of phyllospheric communities. High-throughput sequencing was used in this work to investigate the effects of climate variables and bacterial wildfire disease on the bacterial community's composition and assembly in the phyllosphere of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). The samples from June (M1), July (M2), August (M3), and September (M4) formed statistically separate clusters. The assembly of the whole bacterial population was mostly influenced by stochastic processes. PICRUSt2 predictions revealed genes enriched in the M3, a period when the plant wildfire disease index reached climax, were associated with the development of the wildfire disease (secretion of virulence factor), the enhanced metabolic capacity and environmental adaption. The M3 and M4 microbial communities have more intricate molecular ecological networks (MENs), bursting with interconnections within a densely networked bacterial population. The relative abundances of plant-beneficial and antagonistic microbes Clostridiales, Bacillales, Lactobacillales, and Sphingobacteriales, showed significant decrease in severally diseased sample (M3) compared to the pre-diseased samples (M1/M2). Following the results of MENs, we further test if the correlating bacterial pairs within the MEN have the possibility to share functional genes and we have unraveled 139 entries of such horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events, highlighting the significance of HGT in shaping the adaptive traits of plant-associated bacteria across the MENs, particularly in relation to host colonization and pathogenicity.

Transcriptome analysis provides insight into the regulatory mechanisms underlying pollen germination recovery at normal high ambient temperature in wild banana (Musa itinerans)

Introduction

Cultivated banana are polyploid, with low pollen fertility, and most cultivars are male sterile, which leads to difficulties in banana breeding research. The selection of male parent with excellent resistance and pollen fertility is therefore essential for banana breeding. Wild banana (Musa itinerans) have developed many good characteristics during natural selection and constitute an excellent gene pool for breeding. Therefore, research on wild banana breeding is very important for banana breeding.

Results

In the current analysis, we examined the changes in viability of wild banana pollens at different temperatures by in vitro germination, and found that the germination ability of wild banana pollens cultured at 28°C for 2 days was higher than that of pollens cultured at 23°C (pollens that could not germinate normally under low temperature stress), 24°C (cultured at a constant temperature for 2 days) and 32°C (cultured at a constant temperature for 2 days). To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the germination restoration process in wild banana pollens, we selected the wild banana pollens that had lost its germination ability under low temperature stress (23°C) as the control group (CK) and the wild banana pollens that had recovered its germination ability under constant temperature incubation of 28°C for 2 days as the treatment group (T) for transcriptome sequencing. A total of 921 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in CK vs T, of which 265 were up-regulated and 656 were down-regulated. The combined analysis of Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) revealed that the activation, metabolism of various substances (lipids, sugars, amino acids) play a major role in restoring pollen germination capacity. TCA cycle and the sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthetic pathways were also significantly enriched in the KEGG pathway. And we found that some DEGs may be associated with pollen wall formation, DNA methylation and DNA repair. The cysteine content, free fatty acid (FFA) content, H2O2 content, fructose content, and sucrose content of pollen were increased at treatment of 28°C, while D-Golactose content was decreased. Finally, the GO pathway was enriched for a total of 24 DEGs related to pollen germination, of which 16 DEGs received targeted regulation by 14 MYBs.

Discussions

Our study suggests that the balance between various metabolic processes, pollen wall remodelling, DNA methylation, DNA repairs and regulation of MYBs are essential for germination of wild banana pollens.

Fine mapping of KLW1 that conditions kernel weight mainly through regulating kernel length in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

KLW1 was localized to a 0.6 cM interval near the centromere of chromosome 4B and found to be dominant in conditioning longer kernels and higher kernel weight. Kernel weight is a major wheat yield component and affected by kernel dimensions, filling process and kernel density. Because of this complexity, the mechanism underlying kernel weight is still far from clear. Qtgw.nau-4B or KLW1 was a major kernel weight QTL identified in the Nanda2419 × Wangshuibai population. We showed that introduction of the Nanda2419 allele into elite cultivar Wenmai6 resulted in longer kernels as well as higher kernel weight, without affecting other traits such as spike number per plant, plant height, spike length, spikelet number per spike, and kernel number per spike. KLW1 was dominant in conditioning higher kernel weight and functioned mainly through affecting kernel length. Using F₂ plants derived from KLW1 NIL, a high-density genetic map covering the QTL was constructed. KLW1 was consequently confined to the 0.6 cM Xwgrc4219-Xwgrc4067 interval by evaluating the recombinant lines in three field trials. KLW1 is complementary to KT1, the QTL on chromosome 5A of Nanda2419 for thicker and heavier kernels, in producing larger kernels with higher commercial value, augmenting its usefulness in wheat breeding.

Coronary Vasculitis Induced in Mice by Cell Wall Mannoprotein Fractions of Clinically Isolated Candida Species

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an inflammatory disease that was identified by Professor Tomisaku Kawasaki in 1961. Candida albicans-derived substances (CADS) such as the hot water extract of C. albicans and Candida water-soluble fractions (CAWS) induce coronary vasculitis similar to KD in mice. An increasing proportion of deep-seated candidiasis cases are caused by non-albicans Candida and are often resistant to antifungal drugs. We herein investigated whether the mannoprotein fractions (MN fractions) of clinically isolated Candida species induce vasculitis in mice. We prepared MN fractions from 26 strains of Candida species by conventional hot water extraction and compared vasculitis in DBA/2 mice. The results obtained revealed that the induction of vasculitis and resulting heart failure were significantly dependent on the species; namely, death rates on day 200 were as follows: Candida krusei (100%), Candida albicans (84%), Candida dubliniensis (47%), Candida parapsilosis (44%), Candida glabrata (32%), Candida guilliermondii (20%), and Candida tropicalis (20%). Even for C. albicans, some strains did not induce vasculitis. The present results suggest that MN-induced vasculitis is strongly dependent on the species and strains of Candida, and also that the MN fractions of some non-albicans Candida induce similar toxicity to those of C. albicans.

Fluconazole resistance in Candida albicans is induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing

Microorganisms employ quorum sensing (QS) mechanisms to communicate with each other within microbial ecosystems. Emerging evidence suggests that intraspecies and interspecies QS plays an important role in antimicrobial resistance in microbial communities. However, the relationship between interkingdom QS and antimicrobial resistance is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that interkingdom QS interactions between a bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a yeast, Candida albicans, induce the resistance of the latter to a widely used antifungal fluconazole. Phenotypic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analyses reveal that P. aeruginosa's main QS molecule, N-(3-Oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, induces candidal resistance to fluconazole by reversing the antifungal's effect on the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. Accessory resistance mechanisms including upregulation of C. albicans drug-efflux, regulation of oxidative stress response, and maintenance of cell membrane integrity, further confirm this phenomenon. These findings demonstrate that P. aeruginosa QS molecules may confer protection to neighboring yeasts against azoles, in turn strengthening their co-existence in hostile polymicrobial infection sites.

Coronary Vasculitis Induced in Mice by the Cell Wall Mannoprotein of Candida krusei

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an inflammatory disease that was identified by Professor Tomisaku Kawasaki in 1961. Candida albicans-derived substances, such as the hot water extract of C. albicans (CADS) and Candida water-soluble fraction (CAWS), induced coronary vasculitis similar to KD in mice. An increasing proportion of deep-seated candidiasis cases are caused by non-albicans Candida and are often resistant to antifungal drugs. We herein investigated whether the hot water extract of C. krusei, inherently resistant to fluconazole, induces vasculitis in mice. Three strains of C. krusei, NBRC1395, NBRC1162, and NBRC10737, were cultured in natural (Y) and chemically defined (C) media and cell wall mannoprotein (MN) fractions were prepared by autoclaving cells (CKY1395MN, CKC1395MN, CKY1162MN, CKC1162MN, CKY10737MN, and CKC10737MN). All MN fractions reacted strongly with Concanavalin A (Con A) and dectin-2 and induced anaphylactoid shock in ICR mice. MNs induced severe coronary vasculitis in DBA/2 mice, resulting in cardiac hypertrophy. MNs also induced coronary vasculitis in C57Bl/6 mice. These results suggest that the MNs of non-albicans Candida, such as C. krusei, induce similar toxicity to those of C. albicans.

Analysis of proteomic responses of freeze-dried Oenococcus oeni to access the molecular mechanism of acid acclimation on cell freeze-drying resistance

Malolactic fermentation (MLF), usually induced by Oenococcus oeni (O. oeni), is an important process to improve wine quality. Acid acclimation has been proven to be useful for enhancing the viability of lyophilized O. oeni. To explain the involved mechanisms, cell integrity, morphology and protein patterns of lyophilized O. oeni SD-2a were investigated with acid acclimation. After lyophilization, improvement of cell integrity and more extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were observed in acid acclimated cells. Combined with GO and KEGG analysis, different abundant proteins were noticeably enriched in the carbohydrate metabolism process, especially amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism. The most significant result was the over-expression of proteins participating in cell wall biosynthesis, EPS production, ATP binding and the bacterial secretion system. This result indicated the important role of acid acclimation on cell envelope properties. In addition, protein response to stress and arginine deiminase pathway were also proven to be over-expressed.

A structural and functional perspective on the enzymes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis involved in the L-rhamnose biosynthesis pathway

Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death from bacterial infections. The multi-drug resistant strain has warranted the development of new drug molecules which can inhibit the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). Most of the known drugs inhibit the enzymes in the cell wall biosynthesis pathway. One such pathway is L-rhamnose, which involves four druggable enzymes RmlA, B, C and D. The 3D structure analyses of these protein models (RmlA, B and D) and crystal structure (RmlC) has been carried out. Multiple sequence alignments of homologs from distant species of 32 taxa and analyses of available structures were performed in order to study the conservation of sequence and structural motifs, and catalytically important residues. Based on these results and reported mechanism in other organisms, we have predicted putative catalytic mechanism of M.tb enzymes involved in the L-rhamnose biosynthesis pathway.

Genetic alteration of UDP-rhamnose metabolism in Botrytis cinerea leads to the accumulation of UDP-KDG that adversely affects development and pathogenicity

Botrytis cinerea is a model plant-pathogenic fungus that causes grey mould and rot diseases in a wide range of agriculturally important crops. A previous study has identified two enzymes and corresponding genes (bcdh, bcer) that are involved in the biochemical transformation of uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucose, the major fungal wall nucleotide sugar precursor, to UDP-rhamnose. We report here that deletion of bcdh, the first biosynthetic gene in the metabolic pathway, or of bcer, the second gene in the pathway, abolishes the production of rhamnose-containing glycans in these mutant strains. Deletion of bcdh or double deletion of both bcdh and bcer has no apparent effect on fungal development or pathogenicity. Interestingly, deletion of the bcer gene alone adversely affects fungal development, giving rise to altered hyphal growth and morphology, as well as reduced sporulation, sclerotia production and virulence. Treatments with wall stressors suggest the alteration of cell wall integrity. Analysis of nucleotide sugars reveals the accumulation of the UDP-rhamnose pathway intermediate UDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-glucose (UDP-KDG) in hyphae of the Δbcer strain. UDP-KDG could not be detected in hyphae of the wild-type strain, indicating fast conversion to UDP-rhamnose by the BcEr enzyme. The correlation between high UDP-KDG and modified cell wall and developmental defects raises the possibility that high levels of UDP-KDG result in deleterious effects on cell wall composition, and hence on virulence. This is the first report demonstrating that the accumulation of a minor nucleotide sugar intermediate has such a profound and adverse effect on a fungus. The ability to identify molecules that inhibit Er (also known as NRS/ER) enzymes or mimic UDP-KDG may lead to the development of new antifungal drugs.

Impact of oxidative and osmotic stresses on Candida albicans biofilm formation

Candida albicans possesses an ability to grow under different host-driven stress conditions by developing robust protective mechanisms. In this investigation the focus was on the impact of osmotic (2M NaCl) and oxidative (5 mM H2O2) stress conditions during C. albicans biofilm formation. Oxidative stress enhanced extracellular DNA secretion into the biofilm matrix, increased the chitin level, and reduced virulence factors, namely phospholipase and proteinase activity, while osmotic stress mainly increased extracellular proteinase and decreased phospholipase activity. Fourier transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis of mannan isolated from the C. albicans biofilm cell wall revealed a decrease in mannan content and reduced β-linked mannose moieties under stress conditions. The results demonstrate that C. albicans adapts to oxidative and osmotic stress conditions by inducing biofilm formation with a rich exopolymeric matrix, modulating virulence factors as well as the cell wall composition for its survival in different host niches.

Candida albicans Biofilms and Human Disease

In humans, microbial cells (including bacteria, archaea, and fungi) greatly outnumber host cells. Candida albicans is the most prevalent fungal species of the human microbiota; this species asymptomatically colonizes many areas of the body, particularly the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts of healthy individuals. Alterations in host immunity, stress, resident microbiota, and other factors can lead to C. albicans overgrowth, causing a wide range of infections, from superficial mucosal to hematogenously disseminated candidiasis. To date, most studies of C. albicans have been carried out in suspension cultures; however, the medical impact of C. albicans (like that of many other microorganisms) depends on its ability to thrive as a biofilm, a closely packed community of cells. Biofilms are notorious for forming on implanted medical devices, including catheters, pacemakers, dentures, and prosthetic joints, which provide a surface and sanctuary for biofilm growth. C. albicans biofilms are intrinsically resistant to conventional antifungal therapeutics, the host immune system, and other environmental perturbations, making biofilm-based infections a significant clinical challenge. Here, we review our current knowledge of biofilms formed by C. albicans and closely related fungal species.

Candida albicans Biofilm Development and Its Genetic Control

The fungus Candida albicans is a major source of device-associated infection because of its capacity for biofilm formation. It is part of the natural mucosal flora and thus has access to available niches that can lead to infection. In this chapter we discuss the major properties of C. albicans biofilms and the insight that has been gleaned from their genetic determinants. Our specific areas of focus include biofilm structure and development, cell morphology and biofilm formation, biofilm-associated gene expression, the cell surface and adherence, the extracellular matrix, biofilm metabolism, and biofilm drug resistance.

Participation of Candida albicans transcription factor RLM1 in cell wall biogenesis and virulence

Candida albicans cell wall is important for growth and interaction with the environment. RLM1 is one of the putative transcription factors involved in the cell wall integrity pathway, which plays an important role in the maintenance of the cell wall integrity. In this work we investigated the involvement of RLM1 in the cell wall biogenesis and in virulence. Newly constructed C. albicans Δ/Δrlm1 mutants showed typical cell wall weakening phenotypes, such as hypersensitivity to Congo Red, Calcofluor White, and caspofungin (phenotype reverted in the presence of sorbitol), confirming the involvement of RLM1 in the cell wall integrity. Additionally, the cell wall of C. albicans Δ/Δrlm1 showed a significant increase in chitin (213%) and reduction in mannans (60%), in comparison with the wild-type, results that are consistent with cell wall remodelling. Microarray analysis in the absence of any stress showed that deletion of RLM1 in C. albicans significantly down-regulated genes involved in carbohydrate catabolism such as DAK2, GLK4, NHT1 and TPS1, up-regulated genes involved in the utilization of alternative carbon sources, like AGP2, SOU1, SAP6, CIT1 or GAL4, and genes involved in cell adhesion like ECE1, ALS1, ALS3, HWP1 or RBT1. In agreement with the microarray results adhesion assays showed an increased amount of adhering cells and total biomass in the mutant strain, in comparison with the wild-type. C. albicans mutant Δ/Δrlm1 strain was also found to be less virulent than the wild-type and complemented strains in the murine model of disseminated candidiasis. Overall, we showed that in the absence of RLM1 the modifications in the cell wall composition alter yeast interaction with the environment, with consequences in adhesion ability and virulence. The gene expression findings suggest that this gene participates in the cell wall biogenesis, with the mutant rearranging its metabolic pathways to allow the use of alternative carbon sources.

Looking deep inside: detection of low-abundance proteins in leaf extracts of Arabidopsis and phloem exudates of pumpkin

The field of proteomics suffers from the immense complexity of even small proteomes and the enormous dynamic range of protein concentrations within a given sample. Most protein samples contain a few major proteins, which hamper in-depth proteomic analysis. In the human field, combinatorial hexapeptide ligand libraries (CPLL; such as ProteoMiner) have been used for reduction of the dynamic range of protein concentrations; however, this technique is not established in plant research. In this work, we present the application of CPLL to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leaf proteins. One- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed a decrease in high-abundance proteins and an enrichment of less abundant proteins in CPLL-treated samples. After optimization of the CPLL protocol, mass spectrometric analyses of leaf extracts led to the identification of 1,192 proteins in control samples and an additional 512 proteins after the application of CPLL. Upon leaf infection with virulent Pseudomonas syringae DC3000, CPLL beads were also used for investigating the bacterial infectome. In total, 312 bacterial proteins could be identified in infected Arabidopsis leaves. Furthermore, phloem exudates of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) were analyzed. CPLL prefractionation caused depletion of the major phloem proteins 1 and 2 and improved phloem proteomics, because 67 of 320 identified proteins were detectable only after CPLL treatment. In sum, our results demonstrate that CPLL beads are a time- and cost-effective tool for reducing major proteins, which often interfere with downstream analyses. The concomitant enrichment of less abundant proteins may facilitate a deeper insight into the plant proteome.

N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) functions in cell signaling

The amino sugar N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is well known for the important structural roles that it plays at the cell surface. It is a key component of bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan, fungal cell wall chitin, and the extracellular matrix of animal cells. Interestingly, recent studies have also identified new roles for GlcNAc in cell signaling. For example, GlcNAc stimulates the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans to undergo changes in morphogenesis and expression of virulence genes. Pathogenic E. coli respond to GlcNAc by altering the expression of fimbriae and CURLI fibers that promote biofilm formation and GlcNAc stimulates soil bacteria to undergo changes in morphogenesis and production of antibiotics. Studies with animal cells have revealed that GlcNAc influences cell signaling through the post-translational modification of proteins by glycosylation. O-linked attachment of GlcNAc to Ser and Thr residues regulates a variety of intracellular proteins, including transcription factors such as NFκB, c-myc and p53. In addition, the specificity of Notch family receptors for different ligands is altered by GlcNAc attachment to fucose residues in the extracellular domain. GlcNAc also impacts signal transduction by altering the degree of branching of N-linked glycans, which influences cell surface signaling proteins. These emerging roles of GlcNAc as an activator and mediator of cellular signaling in fungi, animals, and bacteria will be the focus of this review.