Project description:Plant pathogenic fungi cause massive crop losses and therefore, severe economic deficits. The smut Ustilago maydis, a ubiquitous pest of corn, is highly adapted to its host to parasitize on its organic carbon sources. Recently, we identified the U. maydis sucrose transporter Srt1 to be of crucial importance for biotrophic development. Here we report the identification of Hxt1, a further member of the U. maydis sugar transporter family, which is of importance for full fungal virulence. Hxt1 mainly utilizes the hexoses glucose, fructose and mannose, but with lower affinity also secondary carbon sources like galactose and xylose. Deletion of hxt1 in U. maydis reduces virulence and growth on hexoses, in contrast growth on the secondary carbon sources is enhanced. Expression analysis revealed that monosaccharide-dependent regulation of transcription is hampered in hxt1 deletion mutants, leading to the expression of genes involved in the metabolism of secondary sugars and in the initiation of pathogenicity. Thus, we propose that Hxt1 has a dual function as monosaccharide-transporter and -sensor. While Hxt1 aids the initiation of pathogenicity by sensing starvation conditions on the plant surface as a receptor, it feeds the fungus in planta as a transporter.
Project description:Plant pathogenic fungi cause massive crop losses and therefore, severe economic deficits. The smut Ustilago maydis, a ubiquitous pest of corn, is highly adapted to its host to parasitize on its organic carbon sources. Recently, we identified the U. maydis sucrose transporter Srt1 to be of crucial importance for biotrophic development. Here we report the identification of Hxt1, a further member of the U. maydis sugar transporter family, which is of importance for full fungal virulence. Hxt1 mainly utilizes the hexoses glucose, fructose and mannose, but with lower affinity also secondary carbon sources like galactose and xylose. Deletion of hxt1 in U. maydis reduces virulence and growth on hexoses, in contrast growth on the secondary carbon sources is enhanced. Expression analysis revealed that monosaccharide-dependent regulation of transcription is hampered in hxt1 deletion mutants, leading to the expression of genes involved in the metabolism of secondary sugars and in the initiation of pathogenicity. Thus, we propose that Hxt1 has a dual function as monosaccharide-transporter and -sensor. While Hxt1 aids the initiation of pathogenicity by sensing starvation conditions on the plant surface as a receptor, it feeds the fungus in planta as a transporter. To analyze expression changes of SG200 and SG200∆hxt1 both strains were grown in glutamine minimal array media supplemented with 1% glucose or 1 %xylose to an OD600 of 1.0 for 6 h, respectively. For each experiment two independent replicates were conducted.
Project description:mRNAs comparison between Ustilago maydis wild type grown in diluted YEPS (control) and in cell-free supernatants of Ustilago maydis wild type treated with H202 in two different concentrations (0.4% and 0.7%).
Project description:Study of gene regulation basidiocarps development in Ustilago maydis using transcriptomic analysis. In 2012, Cabrera-Ponce et al. established conditions allowing a completely different developmental program in U. maydis when grown on solid medium containing Dicamba (synthetic auxin) in dual cultures with maize embryogenic calli.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE18750: Controlled expression of compatible and incompatible combinations of Ustilago maydis b-mating type locus genes bE and bW GSE18754: Effect of rbf1 deletion during controlled expression of of Ustilago maydis b-mating type locus genes bE1 and bW2 GSE18756: Rbf1 induced gene expression in Ustilago maydis Refer to individual Series
Project description:To elucidate the role of Num1 (Um01682) in Ustilago maydis, the transcriptome of wild type and Num1 deletion mutants was determined by RNAseq after b-heterodimer induction
Project description:The fungal pathogen Ustilago maydis establishes a biotrophic relationship with its host plant maize. Hallmarks of the disease are large plant tumors in which fungal proliferation occurs. Plants have developed various defense pathways to cope with pathogens. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression during the infection process of Ustilago maydis in its host plant to get insights into the defense programs and the metabolic reprogramming needed to supply the fungus with nutrients. Keywords: time course