Dataset Information

The MaCreA Gene Regulates Normal Conidiation and Microcycle Conidiation in Metarhizium acridum.

ABSTRACT: As a C2H2 type zinc finger transcription factor, CreA is the key in Carbon Catabolism Repression (CCR) pathway, which negatively regulates the genes in carbon sources utilization. As conidiation in filamentous fungi is affected by nutritional conditions, CreA may contribute to fungal conidiation, which has been well studied in filamentous fungi, especially Aspergillus spp., but researches on entomopathogenic fungi are not enough. In this study, we found a homologous gene MaCreA in Metarhizium acridum, and the MaCreA deletion strain showed delayed conidiation, significant decrease in conidial yield, and 96.88% lower conidial production, when compared with the wild-type strain, and the normal conidiation and microcycle conidiation pattern shift was blocked. RT-qPCR showed that the transcription levels of the genes FlbD and LaeA (related to asexual development) were significantly altered, and those of most of the conidiation-related genes were higher in ?MaCreA strain. The results of RNA-Seq revealed that MaCreA regulated the two conidiation patterns by mediating genes related to cell cycle, cell division, cell wall, and cell polarity. In conclusion, CreA, as a core regulatory gene in conidiation, provides new insight into the mechanism of conidiation in entomopathogenic fungi.

SUBMITTER: Song D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6713048 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The MaCreA Gene Regulates Normal Conidiation and Microcycle Conidiation in Metarhizium acridum.

Song Dongxu D Shi Youhui Y Ji HengQing H Xia Yuxian Y Peng Guoxiong G

Frontiers in microbiology 20190821

As a C2H2 type zinc finger transcription factor, CreA is the key in Carbon Catabolism Repression (CCR) pathway, which negatively regulates the genes in carbon sources utilization. As conidiation in filamentous fungi is affected by nutritional conditions, CreA may contribute to fungal conidiation, which has been well studied in filamentous fungi, especially Aspergillus spp., but researches on entomopathogenic fungi are not enough. In this study, we found ...[more]

PMID: 31497008

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Project description:BackgroundMost fungi, including entomopathogenic fungi, have two different conidiation patterns, normal and microcycle conidiation, under different culture conditions, eg, in media containing different nutrients. However, the mechanisms underlying the conidiation pattern shift are poorly understood.ResultsIn this study, Metarhizium acridum undergoing microcycle conidiation on sucrose yeast extract agar (SYA) medium shifted to normal conidiation when the medium was supplemented with sucrose, nitrate, or phosphate. By linking changes in nutrients with the conidiation pattern shift and transcriptional changes, we obtained conidiation pattern shift libraries by Solexa/Illumina deep-sequencing technology. A comparative analysis demonstrated that the expression of 137 genes was up-regulated during the shift to normal conidiation, while the expression of 436 genes was up-regulated at the microcycle conidiation stage. A comparison of subtractive libraries revealed that 83, 216, and 168 genes were related to sucrose-induced, nitrate-induced, and phosphate-induced conidiation pattern shifts, respectively. The expression of 217 genes whose expression was specific to microcycle conidiation was further analyzed by the gene expression profiling via multigene concatemers method using mRNA isolated from M. acridum grown on SYA and the four normal conidiation media. The expression of 142 genes was confirmed to be up-regulated on standard SYA medium. Of these 142 genes, 101 encode hypothetical proteins or proteins of unknown function, and only 41 genes encode proteins with putative functions. Of these 41 genes, 18 are related to cell growth, 10 are related to cell proliferation, three are related to the cell cycle, three are related to cell differentiation, two are related to cell wall synthesis, two are related to cell division, and seven have other functions. These results indicate that the conidiation pattern shift in M. acridum mainly results from changes in cell growth and proliferation.ConclusionsThe results indicate that M. acridum shifts conidiation pattern from microcycle conidiation to normal conidiation when there is increased sucrose, nitrate, or phosphate in the medium during microcycle conidiation. The regulation of conidiation patterning is a complex process involving the cell cycle and metabolism of M. acridum. This study provides essential information about the molecular mechanism of the induction of the conidiation pattern shift by single nutrients.

Project description:As a conserved sensor kinase in the HOG-MAPK pathway, Sln1 plays distinct functions in different fungi. In this study, the roles of MaSln1 in Metarhizium acridum were analyzed using gene knockout and rescue strategies. Deletion of MaSln1 did not affect conidial germination, conidial yield, or resistance to chemical agents. However, fungal tolerance to heat shock and UV-B were significantly reduced after deletion of MaSln1. Insect bioassays showed that fungal pathogenicity was significantly impaired when MaSln1 was deleted. Further studies showed that MaSln1 did not affect either germination or appressorium formation of M. acridum on locust wings, but it significantly increased appressorium turgor pressure. In addition, disruption of MaSln1 resulted in a conidiation pattern shift in M. acridum. Microscopic observation revealed, however, that some genes located in the MAPK signaling pathway, including MaSho1, MaHog1, MaMk1, and MaSlt2, were not involved in the conidiation pattern shift on SYA medium (microcycle medium). Meanwhile, of the 143 differently expressed genes (DEGs) identified by RNA-seq, no genes related to the MAPK pathway were found, suggesting that MaSln1 regulation of the conidiation pattern shift was probably independent of the conserved MAPK signaling pathway. It was found that 22 of the 98 known DEGs regulated by MaSln1 were involved in mycelial growth, cell division, and cytoskeleton formation, indicating that MaSln1 likely regulates the expression of genes related to cell division and morphogenesis, thus regulating the conidiation pattern shift in M. acridum. IMPORTANCE The productivity and quality of conidia are both crucial for mycopesticides. In this study, we systematically analyzed the roles of MaSln1 in fungal pathogens. Most importantly, our results revealed that deletion of MaSln1 resulted in a conidiation pattern shift in M. acridum. However, some other genes, located in the MAPK signaling pathway, were not involved in the conidiation pattern shift. RNA-seq revealed no genes related to the MAPK pathway, suggesting that the regulation of the conidiation pattern shift by MaSln1 was probably independent of the conserved MAPK signaling pathway. This study provided a new insight into the functions of Sln1 and laid a foundation for exploring the mechanisms of conidiation pattern shifts in M. acridum.

Dataset Information

The MaCreA Gene Regulates Normal Conidiation and Microcycle Conidiation in Metarhizium acridum.

Publications

The <i>MaCreA</i> Gene Regulates Normal Conidiation and Microcycle Conidiation in <i>Metarhizium acridum</i>.

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