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Comparative genome analysis of entomopathogenic fungi reveals a complex set of secreted proteins.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Metarhizium anisopliae is an entomopathogenic fungus used in the biological control of some agricultural insect pests, and efforts are underway to use this fungus in the control of insect-borne human diseases. A large repertoire of proteins must be secreted by M. anisopliae to cope with the various available nutrients as this fungus switches through different lifestyles, i.e., from a saprophytic, to an infectious, to a plant endophytic stage. To further evaluate the predicted secretome of M. anisopliae, we employed genomic and transcriptomic analyses, coupled with phylogenomic analysis, focusing on the identification and characterization of secreted proteins. RESULTS: We determined the M. anisopliae E6 genome sequence and compared this sequence to other entomopathogenic fungi genomes. A robust pipeline was generated to evaluate the predicted secretomes of M. anisopliae and 15 other filamentous fungi, leading to the identification of a core of secreted proteins. Transcriptomic analysis using the tick Rhipicephalus microplus cuticle as an infection model during two periods of infection (48 and 144 h) allowed the identification of several differentially expressed genes. This analysis concluded that a large proportion of the predicted secretome coding genes contained altered transcript levels in the conditions analyzed in this study. In addition, some specific secreted proteins from Metarhizium have an evolutionary history similar to orthologs found in Beauveria/Cordyceps. This similarity suggests that a set of secreted proteins has evolved to participate in entomopathogenicity. CONCLUSIONS: The data presented represents an important step to the characterization of the role of secreted proteins in the virulence and pathogenicity of M. anisopliae.

SUBMITTER: Staats CC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4246632 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparative genome analysis of entomopathogenic fungi reveals a complex set of secreted proteins.

Staats Charley Christian CC Junges Angela A Guedes Rafael Lucas Muniz RL Thompson Claudia Elizabeth CE de Morais Guilherme Loss GL Boldo Juliano Tomazzoni JT de Almeida Luiz Gonzaga Paula LG Andreis Fábio Carrer FC Gerber Alexandra Lehmkuhl AL Sbaraini Nicolau N da Paixão Rana Louise de Andrade RL Broetto Leonardo L Landell Melissa M Santi Lucélia L Beys-da-Silva Walter Orlando WO Silveira Carolina Pereira CP Serrano Thaiane Rispoli TR de Oliveira Eder Silva ES Kmetzsch Lívia L Vainstein Marilene Henning MH de Vasconcelos Ana Tereza Ribeiro AT Schrank Augusto A

BMC genomics 20140929

<h4>Background</h4>Metarhizium anisopliae is an entomopathogenic fungus used in the biological control of some agricultural insect pests, and efforts are underway to use this fungus in the control of insect-borne human diseases. A large repertoire of proteins must be secreted by M. anisopliae to cope with the various available nutrients as this fungus switches through different lifestyles, i.e., from a saprophytic, to an infectious, to a plant endophytic stage. To further evaluate the predicted ...[more]

PMID: 25263348

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Comparative genome analysis of entomopathogenic fungi reveals a complex set of secreted proteins.

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Comparative genome analysis of entomopathogenic fungi reveals a complex set of secreted proteins.

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