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Polyubiquitin is required for growth, development and pathogenicity in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

ABSTRACT: Protein ubiquitination, which is highly selective, regulates many important biological processes including cellular differentiation and pathogenesis in eukaryotic cells. Here, we integrated pharmacological, molecular and proteomic approaches to explore the role of ubiquitination in Magnaporthe oryzae, the leading fungal disease of rice world-wide. Inhibition of ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis using the 26S proteasome inhibitor, Bortezomib, significantly attenuated conidia germination, appressorium formation and pathogenicity in M. oryzae. Gene expression analysis revealed that many genes associated with protein ubiquitination were developmentally regulated during conidia germination. Only a few, including a polyubiquitin encoding gene, MGG_01282, were more abundantly expressed during appressorium formation and under nitrogen starvation. Targeted gene deletion of MGG_01282, in addition to a significant reduction in protein ubiquitination as determined by immuno blot assays, resulted in pleiotropic effects on M. oryzae including reduced growth and sporulation, abnormal conidia morphology, reduced germination and appressorium formation, and the inability to cause disease. Mutants were also defective in sexual development and were female sterile. Using mass spectrometry, we identified 63 candidate polyubiquitinated proteins under nitrogen starvation, which included overrepresentation of proteins involved in translation, transport and protein modification. Our study suggests that ubiquitination of target proteins plays an important role in nutrient assimilation, development and pathogenicity of M. oryzae.

SUBMITTER: Oh Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3416782 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Polyubiquitin is required for growth, development and pathogenicity in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

Oh Yeonyee Y Franck William L WL Han Sang-Oh SO Shows Angela A Gokce Emine E Muddiman David C DC Dean Ralph A RA

PloS one 20120810 8

Protein ubiquitination, which is highly selective, regulates many important biological processes including cellular differentiation and pathogenesis in eukaryotic cells. Here, we integrated pharmacological, molecular and proteomic approaches to explore the role of ubiquitination in Magnaporthe oryzae, the leading fungal disease of rice world-wide. Inhibition of ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis using the 26S proteasome inhibitor, Bortezomib, significantly attenuated conidia germination, appressoriu ...[more]

PMID: 22900059

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Project description:Rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is a devastating disease of cultivated rice worldwide. Infections by this fungus lead to a significant reduction in rice yields and threats to food security. To gain better insight into growth and cell death in M. oryzae during infection, we characterized two predicted M. oryzae metacaspase proteins, MoMca1 and MoMca2. These proteins appear to be functionally redundant and can complement the yeast Yca1 homologue. Biochemical analysis revealed that M. oryzae metacaspases exhibited Ca2+-dependent caspase activity in vitro Deletion of both MoMca1 and MoMca2 in M. oryzae resulted in reduced sporulation, delay in conidial germination, and attenuation of disease severity. In addition, the double ?Momca1mca2 mutant strain showed increased radial growth in the presence of oxidative stress. Interestingly, the ?Momca1mca2 strain showed an increased accumulation of insoluble aggregates compared to the wild-type strain during vegetative growth. Our findings suggest that MoMca1 and MoMca2 promote the clearance of insoluble aggregates in M. oryzae, demonstrating the important role these metacaspases have in fungal protein homeostasis. Furthermore, these metacaspase proteins may play additional roles, like in regulating stress responses, that would help maintain the fitness of fungal cells required for host infection.IMPORTANCE Magnaporthe oryzae causes rice blast disease that threatens global food security by resulting in the severe loss of rice production every year. A tightly regulated life cycle allows M. oryzae to disarm the host plant immune system during its biotrophic stage before triggering plant cell death in its necrotrophic stage. The ways M. oryzae navigates its complex life cycle remain unclear. This work characterizes two metacaspase proteins with peptidase activity in M. oryzae that are shown to be involved in the regulation of fungal growth and development prior to infection by potentially helping maintain fungal fitness. This study provides new insights into the role of metacaspase proteins in filamentous fungi by illustrating the delays in M. oryzae morphogenesis in the absence of these proteins. Understanding the mechanisms by which M. oryzae morphology and development promote its devastating pathogenicity may lead to the emergence of proper methods for disease control.

Project description:As the causal agent of the blast disease, Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most destructive fungal pathogens of rice. Histone acetylation/deacetylation is important for remodeling of chromatin superstructure and thus altering gene expression. In this study, two genes encoding histone deacetylases, namely, MoRPD3 and MoHST4, were identified and functionally characterized in M. oryzae. MoHst4 was required for proper mycelial growth and pathogenicity, whereas overproduction of MoRpd3 led to loss of pathogenicity, likely due to a block in conidial cell death and restricted invasive growth within the host plants. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-MoRpd3 localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm in vegetative hyphae and developing conidia. By comparative transcriptomics analysis, we identified potential target genes epigenetically regulated by histone deacetylases (HDACs) containing MoRpd3 or MoHst4, which may contribute to conidia formation and/or conidial cell death, which is a prerequisite for successful appressorium-mediated host invasion. Taken together, our results suggest that histone deacetylases MoRpd3 and MoHst4 differentially regulate mycelial growth, asexual development, and pathogenesis in M. oryzae. IMPORTANCE HDACs (histone deacetylases) regulate various aspects of growth, development, and pathogenesis in plant-pathogenic fungi. Most members of HDAC classes I to III have been functionally characterized, except for orthologous Rpd3 and Hst4, in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. In this study, we assessed the function of MoRpd3 and MoHst4 by reverse genetics and found that they differentially regulate M. oryzae vegetative growth, asexual development, and infection. Particularly, MoRpd3 negatively regulates M. oryzae pathogenicity, likely through suppression of conidial cell death, which we recently reported as being critical for appressorium maturation and functioning. Overall, this study broadens our understanding of fungal pathobiology and its critical regulation by histone modification(s) during cell death and in planta differentiation.

Dataset Information

Polyubiquitin is required for growth, development and pathogenicity in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

Publications

Polyubiquitin is required for growth, development and pathogenicity in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

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