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Tini F, Beccari G, Marconi G, Porceddu A, Sulyok M, Gardiner DM, Albertini E, Covarelli L. Identification of Putative Virulence Genes by DNA Methylation Studies in the Cereal Pathogen Fusarium graminearum. Cells 2021; 10:cells10051192. [PMID: 34068122 PMCID: PMC8152758 DOI: 10.3390/cells10051192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation mediates organisms’ adaptations to environmental changes in a wide range of species. We investigated if a such a strategy is also adopted by Fusarium graminearum in regulating virulence toward its natural hosts. A virulent strain of this fungus was consecutively sub-cultured for 50 times (once a week) on potato dextrose agar. To assess the effect of subculturing on virulence, wheat seedlings and heads (cv. A416) were inoculated with subcultures (SC) 1, 23, and 50. SC50 was also used to re-infect (three times) wheat heads (SC50×3) to restore virulence. In vitro conidia production, colonies growth and secondary metabolites production were also determined for SC1, SC23, SC50, and SC50×3. Seedling stem base and head assays revealed a virulence decline of all subcultures, whereas virulence was restored in SC50×3. The same trend was observed in conidia production. The DNA isolated from SC50 and SC50×3 was subject to a methylation content-sensitive enzyme and double-digest, restriction-site-associated DNA technique (ddRAD-MCSeEd). DNA methylation analysis indicated 1024 genes, whose methylation levels changed in response to the inoculation on a healthy host after subculturing. Several of these genes are already known to be involved in virulence by functional analysis. These results demonstrate that the physiological shifts following sub-culturing have an impact on genomic DNA methylation levels and suggest that the ddRAD-MCSeEd approach can be an important tool for detecting genes potentially related to fungal virulence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Tini
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy; (F.T.); (G.B.); (E.A.); (L.C.)
| | - Giovanni Beccari
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy; (F.T.); (G.B.); (E.A.); (L.C.)
| | - Gianpiero Marconi
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy; (F.T.); (G.B.); (E.A.); (L.C.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Andrea Porceddu
- Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari, Viale Italia, 39a, 07100 Sassari, Italy;
| | - Micheal Sulyok
- Department of Agrobiotechnology (IFA-Tulln), University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Konrad Lorenz Strasse, 20, A-3430 Tulln, Austria;
| | - Donald M. Gardiner
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Agriculture and Food, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia;
| | - Emidio Albertini
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy; (F.T.); (G.B.); (E.A.); (L.C.)
| | - Lorenzo Covarelli
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy; (F.T.); (G.B.); (E.A.); (L.C.)
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Benckiser G, Hartmann A, Kumar K, Honermeier B. Editorial: Plant-Microbe-Insect Interaction: Source for Bio-fertilizers, Bio-medicines and Agent Research. Front Plant Sci 2018; 9:931. [PMID: 30002670 PMCID: PMC6031888 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Accepted: 06/11/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Gero Benckiser
- Applied Microbiology, Justus Liebig Universität Gießen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Anton Hartmann
- Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
| | - Krishnamurthy Kumar
- Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India
| | - Bernd Honermeier
- Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Justus Liebig Universität Gießen, Giessen, Germany
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