Why different sugarcane cultivars show different resistant abilities to smut? : Comparisons of endophytic microbial compositions and metabolic functions in stems of sugarcane cultivars with different abilities to resist smut

To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the resistance to smut of different sugarcane cultivars, endophytic bacterial and fungal compositions, functions and metabolites in the stems of the sugarcane cultivars were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing techniques and nontargeted metabolomics. The results showed that the levels of ethylene, salicylic acid and jasmonic acid in sugarcane varieties that were not sensitive to smut were all higher than those in sensitive sugarcane varieties. Moreover, endophytic fungi, such as Ramichloridium, Alternaria, Sarocladium, Epicoccum, and Exophiala species, could be considered antagonistic to sugarcane smut. Additionally, the highly active arginine and proline metabolism, pentose phosphate pathway, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and tyrosine metabolism in sugarcane varieties that were not sensitive to smut indicated that these pathways contribute to resistance to smut. All of the above results suggested that the relatively highly abundant antagonistic microbes and highly active metabolic functions of endophytes in non-smut-sensitive sugarcane cultivars were important for their relatively high resistance to smut.

First report of Ustilago planetellacausing Smut on Eragrostis japonica (Thunb.) Trin in central region of China

Eragrostis japonica (Thunb.) Trin, a kind of grass weeds in paddy rice fields, has recently been developing rapidly as the most harmful weed for rice production in addition to Echinochloa crusgalli and Leptochloa chinensis in partial areas of Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces (Zhou et al.). In September 2019, inflated sori in the ovaries of E. japonica were identified in fields in Chuzhou County, Anhui Province. The disease incidence was approximately 50% at the survey site. Smut sori were in some spikelets of infected inflorescence destroying the inner most floral organs. Sori were ovoid and initially covered with a thin peridium (Figure 1). The sori busted after maturation, and the black powdery spores spread to the plant and soil. The sori were crushed using the sterilized tweezers. The black powdery spores were suspended with sterilized water and spread onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Spores were covered with spines, and the shape of spores varied from globose to ovoid. Scanning electron microscope was used to observe the morphology of spores. The spores were 7.5-12.3 μm × 5.8-11.8 μm (n=50). The surface of spores was covered with spines, and dense verruca were identified between the spines (Figure 2). For molecular identification, the primers ITS1/ITS4 and GAPDH-F/R were employed to amplify the rDNA region. The resulting sequences from the studied material were submitted to Genbank (MW819938 and MZ508441). BLASTn analysis revealed that ITS sequence shared 99% similarity with EF040584 (719/728) the ITS sequence from type specimen of Ustilago planetella. Based on the above results, the pathogen was identified as Ustilago planetella (Vánky, 2007). To verify the Koch's postulates, a pathogenicity test was performed by infiltrating the inflorescence with microspore suspensions of the strain SMZF-2 (1×106 spores/mL) when the E. japonica flowers for 30 minutes. The plants were inoculated in a moist chamber (with a relative humidity >80%) with a 12-h light cycle at 28℃. Inflated sori were observed after inoculated for 2 weeks, and U. planetella was isolated and identified with the methods described above. No sori were observed in the water-inoculated control plants. U. planetella had been reported to infect Eragrostis japonica in Thailand (Vánky, 2007). To our knowledge, this is the first report of U. planetella causing Smut on E. japonica (Thunb.) Trin in central region of China. The current study may help solve the negative effect of E. japonica in paddy rice production via using U. planetella in the future.

Protoplast-mediated transformation in Sporisorium scitamineum facilitates visualization of in planta developmental stages in sugarcane

BACKGROUND

Sporisorium scitamineum is the causative agent of smut disease in sugarcane. The tricky life cycle of S. scitamineum consists of three distinct growth stages: diploid teliospores, haploid sporidia and dikaryotic mycelia. Compatible haploid sporidia representing opposite mating types (MAT-1 and MAT-2) of the fungus fuse to form infective dikaryotic mycelia in the host tissues, leading to the development of a characteristic whip shaped sorus. In this study, the transition of distinct stages of in vitro life cycle and in planta developmental stages of S. scitamineum are presented by generating stable GFP transformants of S. scitamineum.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Haploid sporidia were isolated from the teliospores of Ss97009, and the opposite mating types (MAT-1 and MAT-2) were identified by random mating assay and mating type-specific PCR. Both haploid sporidia were individually transformed with pNIIST plasmid, harboring an enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene and hygromycin gene by a modified protoplast-based PEG-mediated transformation method. Thereafter, the distinct in vitro developmental stages including fusion of haploid sporidia and formation of dikaryotic mycelia expressing GFP were demonstrated. To visualize in planta colonization, transformed haploids (MAT-1gfp and MAT-2gfp) were fused and inoculated onto the smut susceptible sugarcane cultivar, Co 97009 and examined microscopically at different stages of colonization. GFP fluorescence-based analysis presented an extensive fungal colonization of the bud surface as well as inter- and intracellular colonization of the transformed S. scitamineum in sugarcane tissues during initial stages of disease development. Noticeably, the GFP-tagged S. scitamineum led to the emergence of smut whips, which established their pathogenicity, and demonstrated initial colonization, active sporogenesis and teliospore maturation stages.

CONCLUSION

Overall, for the first time, an efficient protoplast-based transformation method was employed to depict clear-cut developmental stages in vitro and in planta using GFP-tagged strains for better understanding of S. scitamineum life cycle development.

Comparative expression analysis of potential pathogenicity-associated genes of high- and low-virulent Sporisorium scitamineum isolates during interaction with sugarcane

Sporisorium scitamineum is a teleomorphic, biotrophic fungus causing the globally prevalent sugarcane smut disease in sugarcane. The severity of the disease depends on two major factors, viz. degree of resistance in the host genotype and virulence level of the pathogen. Hence, in this study, temporal transcriptomic expression of potential pathogenicity-associated genes of two distinctly virulent S. scitamineum isolates, viz. SsV89101 (low virulent) and Ss97009 (high virulent) were analyzed during interaction with a smut susceptible sugarcane cv. Co 97009 at six different time intervals. The pathogenicity-associated genes profiled in this study comprises 14 plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDEs) and ten candidates secreted effector protein-coding (CSEPs) genes. Absolute quantification of pathogen biomass and comparative expression profiling analyses of these pathogenicity-associated genes during host-pathogen interaction indicated that there was a significant variation between low and high virulent isolates. More precisely, the higher and early expression (24 hpi) of certain PCWDEs, viz. Chitinase-1 and Laccase, and the CSEPs, viz. SUC2, SRT1 and CMU1 during the colonization of high virulent isolate suggested that they might possibly play a major role in facilitating faster and successful pathogen ingress, and tissue colonization than the less-virulent isolate. Transcript expression profiling of Chitinase and Laccases were also in correlation with their corresponding enzyme activity assays. Comprehensively, this quantitative temporal expression analysis has provided critical insights into the early expression of pathogenicity-associated genes and their putative role in attributing to higher virulence. Moreover, this study provides valuable clues for the screening of candidate virulence determinants for further functional characterization of the test pathogen isolates used for the evaluation of smut resistance in breeding clones.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-02893-7.

Polyamines levels increase in smut teliospores after contact with sugarcane glycoproteins as a plant defensive mechanism

Previous studies have already highlighted the correlation between Sporisorium scitamineum pathogenicity and sugarcane polyamine accumulation. It was shown that high infectivity correlates with an increase in the amount of spermidine, spermine and cadaverine conjugated to phenols in the sensitive cultivars whereas resistant plants mainly produce free putrescine. However, these previous studies did not clarify the role of these polyamides in the disorders caused to the plant. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to clarify the effect of polyamines on the development of smut disease. In this paper, commercial polyamines were firstly assayed on smut teliospores germination. Secondly, effects were correlated to changes in endogenous polyamines after contact with defense sugarcane glycoproteins. Low concentrations of spermidine significantly activated teliospore germination, while putrescine had no activating effect on germination. Interestingly, it was observed that the diamine caused nuclear decondensation and breakage of the teliospore cell wall whereas the treatment of teliospores with spermidine did not induce nuclear decondensation or cell wall breakdown. Moreover, the number of polymerized microtubules increased in the presence of 7.5 mM spermidine but it decreased with putrescine which indicates that polyamines effects on Sporisorium scitamineum teliospore germination could be mediated through microtubules interaction. An increased production of polyamines in smut teliospores has been related to sugarcane resistance to the disease. Teliospores incubation with high molecular mass glycoproteins (HMMG) from the uninoculated resistant variety of sugarcane, Mayari 55-14, caused an increase of the insoluble fraction of putrescine, spermidine and spermine inside the teliospore cells. Moreover, the level of the soluble fraction of spermidine (S fraction) increased inside teliospores and the excess was released to the medium. The HMMG glycoproteins purified from Mayarí 55-14 plants previously inoculated with the pathogen significantly increased the levels of both retained and secreted soluble putrescine and spermidine. Polyamines levels did not increase in teliospores after incubation with HMMG produced by non resistant variety Barbados 42231 which could be related to the incapacity of these plants to defend themselves against smut disease. Thus, a hypothesis about the role of polyamines in sugarcane-smut interaction is explained.

Proteomic analysis of a compatible interaction between sugarcane and Sporisorium scitamineum

Smut caused by Sporisorium scitamineum is one of the important diseases of sugarcane with global significance. Despite the intriguing nature of sugarcane, S. scitamineum interaction, several pertinent aspects remain unexplored. This study investigates the proteome level alterations occurring in the meristem of a S. scitamineum infected susceptible sugarcane cultivar at whip emergence stage. Differentially abundant proteins were identified by 2DE coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS. Comprehensively, 53 sugarcane proteins identified were related to defence, stress, metabolism, protein folding, energy, and cell division; in addition, a putative effector of S. scitamineum, chorismate mutase, was identified. Transcript expression vis-à-vis the activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase was relatively higher in the infected meristem. Abundance of seven candidate proteins in 2D gel profiles was in correlation with its corresponding transcript expression levels as validated by qRT-PCR. Furthermore, this study has opened up new perspectives on the interaction between sugarcane and S. scitamineum.

TRIPATH: A Biological Genetic and Genomic Database of Three Economically Important Fungal Pathogen of Wheat - Rust: Smut: Bunt

Wheat, the major source of vegetable protein in human diet, provides staple food globally for a large proportion of the human population. With higher protein content than other major cereals, wheat has great socio- economic importance. Nonetheless for wheat, three important fungal pathogens i.e. rust, smut and bunt are major cause of significant yield losses throughout the world. Researchers are putting up a strong fight against devastating wheat pathogens, and have made progress in tracking and controlling disease outbreaks from East Africa to South Asia. The aim of the present work hence was to develop a fungal pathogens database dedicated to wheat, gathering information about different pathogen species and linking them to their biological classification, distribution and control. Towards this end, we developed an open access database Tripath: A biological, genetic and genomic database of economically important wheat fungal pathogens - rust: smut: bunt. Data collected from peer-reviewed publications and fungal pathogens were added to the customizable database through an extended relational design. The strength of this resource is in providing rapid retrieval of information from large volumes of text at a high degree of accuracy. Database TRIPATH is freely accessible.

AVAILABILITY

http://www.gbpuat-cbsh.ac.in/departments/bi/database/tripath/