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Li P, Shen S, Jia J, Sun H, Zhu H, Wei N, Yu B, Sohail A, Wu D, Zeng F, Hao Z, Dong J. The catalytic subunit of type 2A protein phosphatase negatively regulates conidiation and melanin biosynthesis in Setosphaeria turcica. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 266:131149. [PMID: 38556232 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131149] [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: 09/09/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Northern corn leaf blight caused by Setosphaeria turcica is a major fungal disease responsible for significant reductions in maize yield worldwide. Eukaryotic type 2A protein phosphatase (PP2A) influences growth and virulence in a number of pathogenic fungi, but little is known about its roles in S. turcica. Here, we functionally characterized S. turcica StPP2A-C, which encodes the catalytic C subunit of StPP2A. StPP2A-C deletion slowed colony growth, conidial germination, and appressorium formation but increased conidiation, melanin biosynthesis, glycerol content, and disease lesion size on maize. These effects were associated with expression changes in genes related to calcium signaling, conidiation, laccase activity, and melanin and glycerol biosynthesis, as well as changes in intra- and extracellular laccase activity. A pull-down screen for candidate StPP2A-c interactors revealed an interaction between StPP2A-c and StLac1. Theoretical modeling and yeast two-hybrid experiments confirmed that StPP2A-c interacted specifically with the copper ion binding domain of StLac1 and that Cys267 of StPP2A-c was required for this interaction. StPP2A-C expression thus appears to promote hyphal growth and reduce pathogenicity in S. turcica, at least in part by altering melanin synthesis and laccase activity; these insights may ultimately support the development of novel strategies for biological management of S. turcica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pan Li
- State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement, Hebei Agricultural University, Hebei 071001, China; College of Plant Protection, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Shen Shen
- Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Jingzhe Jia
- Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Hehe Sun
- Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Hang Zhu
- Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Ning Wei
- Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Bo Yu
- Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Aamir Sohail
- Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Di Wu
- Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China
| | - Fanli Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement, Hebei Agricultural University, Hebei 071001, China; Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China.
| | - Zhimin Hao
- State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement, Hebei Agricultural University, Hebei 071001, China; Hebei Bioinformatic Utilization and Technological Innovation Center for Agricultural Microbes, Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, Hebei Agricultural University, College of Life Sciences, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China.
| | - Jingao Dong
- State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement, Hebei Agricultural University, Hebei 071001, China; College of Plant Protection, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, Hebei 071001, China.
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Popović M, Nuskern L, Peranić K, Vuković R, Katanić Z, Krstin L, Ćurković-Perica M, Leigh DM, Poljak I, Idžojtić M, Rigling D, Ježić M. Physiological variations in hypovirus-infected wild and model long-term laboratory strains of Cryphonectria parasitica. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1192996. [PMID: 37426020 PMCID: PMC10324583 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1192996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Forest ecosystems are highly threatened by the simultaneous effects of climate change and invasive pathogens. Chestnut blight, caused by the invasive phytopathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, has caused severe damage to European chestnut groves and catastrophic dieback of American chestnut in North America. Within Europe, the impacts of the fungus are widely mitigated through biological control that utilizes the RNA mycovirus: Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 (CHV1). Viral infections, similarly to abiotic factors, can cause oxidative stress in their hosts leading to physiological attrition through stimulating ROS (reactive oxygen species) and NOx production. Methods To fully understand the interactions leading to the biocontrol of chestnut blight, it is vital to determine oxidative stress damage arising during CHV1 infection, especially considering that other abiotic factors, like long-term cultivation of model fungal strains, can also impact oxidative stress. Our study compared CHV1-infected C. parasitica isolates from two Croatian wild populations with CHV1-infected model strains (EP713, Euro7 and CR23) that have experienced long-term laboratory cultivation. Results and Discussion We determined the level of oxidative stress in the samples by measuring stress enzymes' activity and oxidative stress biomarkers. Furthermore, for the wild populations, we studied the activity of fungal laccases, expression of the laccase gene lac1, and a possible effect of CHV1 intra-host diversity on the observed biochemical responses. Relative to the wild isolates, the long-term model strains had lower enzymatic activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), and higher content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and total non-protein thiols. This indicated generally higher oxidative stress, likely arising from their decades-long history of subculturing and freeze-thaw cycles. When comparing the two wild populations, differences between them in stress resilience and levels of oxidative stress were also observed, as evident from the different MDA content. The intra-host genetic diversity of the CHV1 had no discernible effect on the stress levels of the virus-infected fungal cultures. Our research indicated that an important determinant modulating both lac1 expression and laccase enzyme activity is intrinsic to the fungus itself, possibly related to the vc type of the fungus, i.e., vegetative incompatibility genotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja Popović
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Lucija Nuskern
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Karla Peranić
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Rosemary Vuković
- Department of Biology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
| | - Zorana Katanić
- Department of Biology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
| | - Ljiljana Krstin
- Department of Biology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
| | | | | | - Igor Poljak
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Marilena Idžojtić
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Daniel Rigling
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Marin Ježić
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
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Müller M, Kües U, Budde KB, Gailing O. Applying molecular and genetic methods to trees and their fungal communities. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 107:2783-2830. [PMID: 36988668 PMCID: PMC10106355 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12480-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Revised: 03/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
Forests provide invaluable economic, ecological, and social services. At the same time, they are exposed to several threats, such as fragmentation, changing climatic conditions, or increasingly destructive pests and pathogens. Trees, the inherent species of forests, cannot be viewed as isolated organisms. Manifold (micro)organisms are associated with trees playing a pivotal role in forest ecosystems. Of these organisms, fungi may have the greatest impact on the life of trees. A multitude of molecular and genetic methods are now available to investigate tree species and their associated organisms. Due to their smaller genome sizes compared to tree species, whole genomes of different fungi are routinely compared. Such studies have only recently started in forest tree species. Here, we summarize the application of molecular and genetic methods in forest conservation genetics, tree breeding, and association genetics as well as for the investigation of fungal communities and their interrelated ecological functions. These techniques provide valuable insights into the molecular basis of adaptive traits, the impacts of forest management, and changing environmental conditions on tree species and fungal communities and can enhance tree-breeding cycles due to reduced time for field testing. It becomes clear that there are multifaceted interactions among microbial species as well as between these organisms and trees. We demonstrate the versatility of the different approaches based on case studies on trees and fungi. KEY POINTS: • Current knowledge of genetic methods applied to forest trees and associated fungi. • Genomic methods are essential in conservation, breeding, management, and research. • Important role of phytobiomes for trees and their ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Müller
- Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding, Faculty for Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
- Center for Integrated Breeding Research (CiBreed), University of Goettingen, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Ursula Kües
- Molecular Wood Biotechnology and Technical Mycology, Faculty for Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB), Georg-August-University Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Center of Sustainable Land Use (CBL), Georg-August-University Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Katharina B Budde
- Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding, Faculty for Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Center of Sustainable Land Use (CBL), Georg-August-University Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Oliver Gailing
- Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding, Faculty for Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Center for Integrated Breeding Research (CiBreed), University of Goettingen, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
- Center of Sustainable Land Use (CBL), Georg-August-University Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
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Škorić D, Černi S, Ćurković-Perica M, Ježić M, Krajačić M, Šeruga Musić M. Legacy of Plant Virology in Croatia-From Virus Identification to Molecular Epidemiology, Evolution, Genomics and Beyond. Viruses 2021; 13:2339. [PMID: 34960609 PMCID: PMC8707422 DOI: 10.3390/v13122339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper showcases the development of plant virology in Croatia at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, from its beginning in the 1950s until today, more than 70 years later. The main achievements of the previous and current group members are highlighted according to various research topics and fields. Expectedly, some of those accomplishments remained within the field of plant virology, but others make part of a much-extended research spectrum exploring subviral pathogens, prokaryotic plant pathogens, fungi and their viruses, as well as their interactions within ecosystems. Thus, the legacy of plant virology in Croatia continues to contribute to the state of the art of microbiology far beyond virology. Research problems pertinent for directing the future research endeavors are also proposed in this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dijana Škorić
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (S.Č.); (M.Ć.-P.); (M.J.); (M.K.); (M.Š.M.)
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