Dataset Information

Responses to Hydric Stress in the Seed-Borne Necrotrophic Fungus Alternaria brassicicola.

ABSTRACT: Alternaria brassicicola is a necrotrophic fungus causing black spot disease and is an economically important seed-borne pathogen of cultivated brassicas. Seed transmission is a crucial component of its parasitic cycle as it promotes long-term survival and dispersal. Recent studies, conducted with the Arabidopsis thaliana/A. brassicicola pathosystem, showed that the level of susceptibility of the fungus to water stress strongly influenced its seed transmission ability. In this study, we gained further insights into the mechanisms involved in the seed infection process by analyzing the transcriptomic and metabolomic responses of germinated spores of A. brassicicola exposed to water stress. Then, the repertoire of putative hydrophilins, a group of proteins that are assumed to be involved in cellular dehydration tolerance, was established in A. brassicicola based on the expression data and additional structural and biochemical criteria. Phenotyping of single deletion mutants deficient for fungal hydrophilin-like proteins showed that they were affected in their transmission to A. thaliana seeds, although their aggressiveness on host vegetative tissues remained intact.

SUBMITTER: N'Guyen GQ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6730492 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Responses to Hydric Stress in the Seed-Borne Necrotrophic Fungus Alternaria brassicicola.

N'Guyen Guillaume Quang GQ Raulo Roxane R Marchi Muriel M Agustí-Brisach Carlos C Iacomi Beatrice B Pelletier Sandra S Renou Jean-Pierre JP Bataillé-Simoneau Nelly N Campion Claire C Bastide Franck F Hamon Bruno B Mouchès Chloé C Porcheron Benoit B Lemoine Remi R Kwasiborski Anthony A Simoneau Philippe P Simoneau Philippe P Guillemette Thomas T

Frontiers in microbiology 20190830

Alternaria brassicicola is a necrotrophic fungus causing black spot disease and is an economically important seed-borne pathogen of cultivated brassicas. Seed transmission is a crucial component of its parasitic cycle as it promotes long-term survival and dispersal. Recent studies, conducted with the Arabidopsis thaliana/A. brassicicola pathosystem, showed that the level of susceptibility of the fungus to water stress strongly influenced its seed transmission ability. In this study ...[more]

PMID: 31543870

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Seed transmission constitutes a major component of the parasitic cycle for several fungal pathogens. However, very little is known concerning fungal or plant genetic factors that impact seed transmission and mechanisms underlying this key biological trait have yet to be clarified. Such lack of available data could be probably explained by the absence of suitable model pathosystem to study plant-fungus interactions during the plant reproductive phase. RESULTS: Here we report on setting up a new pathosystem that could facilitate the study of fungal seed transmission. Reproductive organs of Arabidopsis thaliana were inoculated with Alternaria brassicicola conidia. Parameters (floral vs fruit route, seed collection date, plant and silique developmental stages) that could influence the seed transmission efficiency were tested to define optimal seed infection conditions. Microscopic observations revealed that the fungus penetrates siliques through cellular junctions, replum and stomata, and into seed coats either directly or through cracks. The ability of the osmosensitive fungal mutant nik1?3 to transmit to A. thaliana seeds was analyzed. A significant decrease in seed transmission rate was observed compared to the wild-type parental strain, confirming that a functional osmoregulation pathway is required for efficient seed transmission of the fungus. Similarly, to test the role of flavonoids in seed coat protection against pathogens, a transparent testa Arabidopsis mutant (tt4-1) not producing any flavonoid was used as host plant. Unexpectedly, tt4-1 seeds were infected to a significantly lower extent than wild-type seeds, possibly due to over-accumulation of other antimicrobial metabolites. CONCLUSIONS: The Arabidopsis thaliana-Alternaria brassicicola pathosystem, that have been widely used to study plant-pathogen interactions during the vegetative phase, also proved to constitute a suitable model pathosystem for detailed analysis of plant-pathogen interactions during the reproductive phase. We demonstrated that it provides an excellent system for investigating the impact of different fungal or plant mutations on the seed transmission process and therefore paves the way towards future high-throughput screening of both Arabidopsis and fungal mutant.

Dataset Information

Responses to Hydric Stress in the Seed-Borne Necrotrophic Fungus Alternaria brassicicola.

Publications

Responses to Hydric Stress in the Seed-Borne Necrotrophic Fungus <i>Alternaria brassicicola</i>.

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