Divergent LysM effectors contribute to the virulence of Beauveria bassiana by evasion of insect immune defenses.

ABSTRACT: The lysin motif (LysM) containing proteins can bind chitin and are ubiquitous in various organisms including fungi. In plant pathogenic fungi, a few LysM proteins have been characterized as effectors to suppress chitin-induced immunity in plant hosts and therefore contribute to fungal virulence. The effector mechanism is still questioned in fungus-animal interactions. In this study, we found that LysM proteins are also present in animal pathogenic fungi and have evolved divergently. The genome of the insect pathogen Beauveria bassiana encodes 12 LysM proteins, and the genes were differentially transcribed by the fungus when grown in different conditions. Deletion of six genes that were expressed by the fungus growing in insects revealed that two, Blys2 and Blys5, were required for full fun

SUBMITTER: Cen K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5600412 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature