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Rinker DC, Sauters TJC, Steffen K, Gumilang A, Raja HA, Rangel-Grimaldo M, Pinzan CF, de Castro PA, dos Reis TF, Delbaje E, Houbraken J, Goldman GH, Oberlies NH, Rokas A. Strain heterogeneity in a non-pathogenic fungus highlights factors contributing to virulence. bioRxiv 2024:2024.03.08.583994. [PMID: 38496489 PMCID: PMC10942418 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.08.583994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Fungal pathogens exhibit extensive strain heterogeneity, including variation in virulence. Whether closely related non-pathogenic species also exhibit strain heterogeneity remains unknown. Here, we comprehensively characterized the pathogenic potentials (i.e., the ability to cause morbidity and mortality) of 16 diverse strains of Aspergillus fischeri, a non-pathogenic close relative of the major pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. In vitro immune response assays and in vivo virulence assays using a mouse model of pulmonary aspergillosis showed that A. fischeri strains varied widely in their pathogenic potential. Furthermore, pangenome analyses suggest that A. fischeri genomic and phenotypic diversity is even greater. Genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic profiling identified several pathways and secondary metabolites associated with variation in virulence. Notably, strain virulence was associated with the simultaneous presence of the secondary metabolites hexadehydroastechrome and gliotoxin. We submit that examining the pathogenic potentials of non-pathogenic close relatives is key for understanding the origins of fungal pathogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- David C. Rinker
- Department of Biological Sciences and Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Thomas J. C. Sauters
- Department of Biological Sciences and Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Karin Steffen
- Department of Biological Sciences and Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Adiyantara Gumilang
- Department of Biological Sciences and Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Huzefa A. Raja
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
| | - Manuel Rangel-Grimaldo
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
| | - Camila Figueiredo Pinzan
- Faculdade de Ciencias Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Patrícia Alves de Castro
- Faculdade de Ciencias Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Thaila Fernanda dos Reis
- Faculdade de Ciencias Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Endrews Delbaje
- Faculdade de Ciencias Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jos Houbraken
- Food and Indoor Mycology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Gustavo H. Goldman
- Faculdade de Ciencias Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Nicholas H. Oberlies
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
| | - Antonis Rokas
- Department of Biological Sciences and Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Lee KH, Gumilang A, Fu T, Kang SW, Kim KS. The Autophagy Protein CsATG8 is Involved in Asexual Development and Virulence in the Pepper Anthracnose Fungus Colletotrichum scovillei. Mycobiology 2022; 50:467-474. [PMID: 36721786 PMCID: PMC9848383 DOI: 10.1080/12298093.2022.2148393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Autophagy serves as a survival mechanism and plays important role in nutrient recycling under conditions of starvation, nutrient storage, ad differentiation of plant pathogenic fungi. However, autophagy-related genes have not been investigated in Colletotrichum scovillei, a causal agent of pepper fruit anthracnose disease. ATG8 is involved in autophagosome formation and is considered a marker of autophagy. Therefore, we generated an ATG8 deletion mutant, ΔCsatg8, via homologous recombination to determine the functional roles of CsATG8 in the development and virulence of C. scovillei. Compared with the wild-type, the deletion mutant ΔCsatg8 exhibited a severe reduction in conidiation. Conidia produced by ΔCsatg8 were defective in survival, conidial germination, and appressorium formation. Moreover, conidia of ΔCsatg8 showed reduced lipid amount and PTS1 selectivity. A virulence assay showed that anthracnose development on pepper fruits was reduced in ΔCsatg8. Taken together, our results suggest that CsATG8 plays various roles in conidium production and associated development, and virulence in C. scovillei.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwang Ho Lee
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
| | - Adiyantara Gumilang
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
| | - Teng Fu
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
| | - Sung Wook Kang
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
| | - Kyoung Su Kim
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
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Shin JH, Gumilang A, Kim MJ, Han JH, Kim KS. A PAS-Containing Histidine Kinase is Required for Conidiation, Appressorium Formation, and Disease Development in the Rice Blast Fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. Mycobiology 2019; 47:473-482. [PMID: 32010469 PMCID: PMC6968698 DOI: 10.1080/12298093.2019.1689037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Revised: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Rice blast disease, caused by the ascomycete fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the most important diseases in rice production. PAS (period circadian protein, aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator protein, single-minded protein) domains are known to be involved in signal transduction pathways, but their functional roles have not been well studied in fungi. In this study, targeted gene deletion was carried out to investigate the functional roles of the PAS-containing gene MoPAS1 (MGG_02665) in M. oryzae. The deletion mutant ΔMopas1 exhibited easily wettable mycelia, reduced conidiation, and defects in appressorium formation and disease development compared to the wild type and complemented transformant. Exogenous cAMP restored appressorium formation in ΔMopas1, but the shape of the restored appressorium was irregular, indicating that MoPAS1 is involved in sensing the hydrophobic surface. To examine the expression and localization of MoPAS1 in M. oryzae during appressorium development and plant infection, we constructed a MoPAS1:GFP fusion construct. MoPAS1:GFP was observed in conidia and germ tubes at 0 and 2 h post-infection (hpi) on hydrophobic cover slips. By 8 hpi, most of the GFP signal was observed in the appressoria. During invasive growth in host cells, MoPAS1:GFP was found to be fully expressed in not only the appressoria but also invasive hyphae, suggesting that MoPAS may contribute to disease development in host cells. These results expand our knowledge of the roles of PAS-containing regulatory genes in the plant-pathogenic fungus M. oryzae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jong-Hwan Shin
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and BioHerb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
| | - Adiyantara Gumilang
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and BioHerb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
| | - Moon-Jong Kim
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and BioHerb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
| | - Joon-Hee Han
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and BioHerb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
| | - Kyoung Su Kim
- Division of Bio-Resource Sciences and BioHerb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
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4
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Fu T, Kim JO, Han JH, Gumilang A, Lee YH, Kim KS. A Small GTPase RHO2 Plays an Important Role in Pre-infection Development in the Rice Blast Pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. Plant Pathol J 2018; 34:470-479. [PMID: 30588220 PMCID: PMC6305172 DOI: 10.5423/ppj.oa.04.2018.0069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2018] [Revised: 08/17/2018] [Accepted: 08/21/2018] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae is a global threat to rice production. Here we characterized RHO2 gene (MGG_02457) that belongs to the Rho GTPase family, using a deletion mutant. This mutant ΔMorho2 exhibited no defects in conidiation and germination but developed only 6% of appressoria in response to a hydrophobic surface when compared to the wild-type progenitor. This result indicates that MoRHO2 plays a role in appressorium development. Furthermore, exogenous cAMP treatment on the mutant led to appressoria that exhibited abnormal morphology on both hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. These outcomes suggested the involvement of MoRHO2 in cAMP-mediated appressorium development. ΔMorho2 mutation also delayed the development of appressorium-like structures (ALS) at hyphal tips on hydrophobic surface, which were also abnormally shaped. These results suggested that MoRHO2 is involved in morphological development of appressoria and ALS from conidia and hyphae, respectively. As expected, ΔMorho2 mutant was defective in plant penetration, but was still able to cause lesions, albeit at a reduced rate on wounded plants. These results implied that MoRHO2 plays a role in M. oryzae virulence as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teng Fu
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, and Bioherb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Joon-Oh Kim
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, and Bioherb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Joon-Hee Han
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, and Bioherb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Adiyantara Gumilang
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, and Bioherb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Yong-Hwan Lee
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, and Center for Fungal Genetic Resources, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826,
Korea
| | - Kyoung Su Kim
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, and Bioherb Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
- Corresponding author: Phone) +82-33-250-6435, FAX) +82-33-259-5558, E-mail)
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Kim JO, Shin JH, Gumilang A, Chung K, Choi KY, Kim KS. Effectiveness of Different Classes of Fungicides on Botrytis cinerea Causing Gray Mold on Fruit and Vegetables. Plant Pathol J 2016; 32:570-574. [PMID: 27904464 PMCID: PMC5117866 DOI: 10.5423/ppj.nt.05.2016.0114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2016] [Revised: 08/07/2016] [Accepted: 08/14/2016] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic pathogen causing a major problem in the export and post-harvest of strawberries. Inappropriate use of fungicides leads to resistance among fungal pathogens. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the sensitivity of B. cinerea to various classes of fungicide and to determine the effectiveness of different concentrations of commonly used fungicides. We thus evaluated the effectiveness of six classes of fungicide in inhibiting the growth and development of this pathogen, namely, fludioxonil, iprodione, pyrimethanil, tebuconazole, fenpyrazamine, and boscalid. Fludioxonil was the most effective (EC50 < 0.1 μg/ml), and pyrimethanil was the least effective (EC50 = 50 μg/ml), at inhibiting the mycelial growth of B. cinerea. Fenpyrazamine and pyrimethanil showed relatively low effectiveness in inhibiting the germination and conidial production of B. cinerea. Our results are useful for the management of B. cinerea and as a basis for monitoring the sensitivity of B. cinerea strains to fungicides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joon-Oh Kim
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Jong-Hwan Shin
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Adiyantara Gumilang
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Keun Chung
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Ki Young Choi
- Department of Controlled Agriculture, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
| | - Kyoung Su Kim
- Division of Bioresource Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341,
Korea
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