Dataset Information

Depletion of melanin exposes Aspergillus flavus conidial surface proteins and alters the surface architecture and virulence.

ABSTRACT: A. flavus keratitis is one of the predominant fungal infections affecting the tropical parts of the world. Melanin is a virulence factor in numerous pathogenic fungi and the melanin layer maintains the cell wall structure and provides chemical and physical protection to the organism. However, the molecular and biological mechanisms modulating melanin-mediated host-pathogen interaction in A. flavus keratitis are not well understood. This work aimed to compare the morphology, surface proteome profile and virulence of melanized and non-melanized conidia of A. flavus. An environmental isolate and two clinical isolates were included in this study. L-DOPA melanin pathway-specific inhibitor kojic acid (KA) as used to prepare non-melanized conidia. Conidial surface proteins were extracted using 100% formic acid at 0 ºC and the extracted proteins were analyzed using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS PAGE). Formic acid extracts were analyzed in an Orbitrap Velos pro-mass spectrometer. Conidial surface morphology difference was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, lactophenol and calcofluor staining were performed to check the morphology and staining efficiency of melanized conidia (MC) and non-melanized conidia (NMC). A Galleria mellonella insect model was used to examine the virulence efficiency of MC and NMC. Kojic acid treatment inhibited melanin synthesis in A. flavus and the conidial surface protein profile was significantly different in kojic acid-treated non-melanized conidia. Several cell wall-associated proteins and proteins responsible for oxidative stress, carbohydrate, and chitin metabolic pathway were found only in the formic acid extracts of NMC. SEM analysis showed the conidial surface morphology difference between the NMC and MC indicating the role of melanin in the structural integrity of the conidial cell wall. The levels of calcofluor staining efficiency were different, but there was no microscopic morphology difference in lactophenol cotton blue staining of MC and NMC. Evaluation of virulence of MC and NMC in G. mellonella model showed NMC was less virulent compared to MC . Our results showed that the integrity of the conidial surface is controlled by the melanin layer. The alteration in the surface protein profile indicated that many surface proteins are masked by the melanin layer and hence melanin can modulate the host response by preventing the exposure of fungal proteins to the host immune defense system. G. mellonella in vivo virulence assay also confirmed that the non-melanized conidia were susceptible to host defense as in other Aspergillus pathogens.

INSTRUMENT(S): LTQ Orbitrap Velos

ORGANISM(S): Aspergillus Flavus Frr 3643

SUBMITTER: Rudhra Ondipilli

LAB HEAD: Kuppamuthu Dharmalingam

PROVIDER: PXD037707 | Pride | 2024-05-23

REPOSITORIES: pride

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Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
	OR_Aflavus_Control_CI1123_1_1.msf	Msf
	OR_Aflavus_Control_CI1123_1_1.raw	Raw
	OR_Aflavus_Control_CI1123_1_2.msf	Msf
	OR_Aflavus_Control_CI1123_1_2.raw	Raw
	OR_Aflavus_Control_CI1123_2_1.msf	Msf

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Publications

Melanin depletion affects Aspergillus flavus conidial surface proteins, architecture, and virulence.

Rudhra Ondippili O Gnanam Hariharan H Sivaperumal Sivaramakrishnan S Namperumalsamy VenkateshPrajna V Prajna Lalitha L Kuppamuthu Dharmalingam D

Applied microbiology and biotechnology 20240409 1

Melanin is an Aspergillus flavus cell wall component that provides chemical and physical protection to the organism. However, the molecular and biological mechanisms modulating melanin-mediated host-pathogen interaction in A. flavus keratitis are not well understood. This work aimed to compare the morphology, surface proteome profile, and virulence of melanized conidia (MC) and non-melanized conidia (NMC) of A. flavus. Kojic acid treatment inhibited melanin synthesis in A. flavus, and the conidi ...[more]

PMID: 38592509

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Project description:Alternaria brassicicola is a successful saprophyte and necrotrophic plant pathogen. Several A. brassicicola genes have been characterized as virulence factors affecting pathogenesis of Brassica species. To study regulatory mechanisms of pathogenesis, we mined 421 genes in silico encoding putative transcription factors in a machine-annotated, draft genome sequence of A. brassicicola. Targeted gene disruption mutants for 114 of the genes with proteins predicted to contain at least one putative zinc-finger domain were produced and functionally analyzed. Six of these genes were associated with pathogenesis. Disruption mutants corresponding to five of the genes were ≥50% less virulent than the wild type. Unexpectedly, the mutants of one gene (designated Amr1) were 100% more virulent. Amr1 is a homolog of Cmr1, a transcription factor previously found to regulate melanin biosynthesis in several fungi. Gene deletion mutants (Δamr1) were created and their phenotypes characterized. The Δamr1 mutants utilized pectin as a carbon source more efficiently than the wild type, were melanin-deficient, and more sensitive to UV light and glucanase digestion. The Amr1 protein was localized in the nuclei of hyphae and in highly melanized conidia during the late stage of plant pathogenesis. RNA-seq analysis revealed that three genes in the melanin biosynthesis pathway, along with the deleted Amr1 gene, were not expressed in the mutants. In contrast, many hydrolytic enzyme-coding genes were expressed at much higher levels in the mutants than in the wild type during pathogenesis. The results of this study suggested that only a small number of transcription factors with zinc finger domains are needed to maintain strong virulence. Furthermore, a gene important for survival in nature negatively affected virulence, probably by less efficient use of pectin. We speculate that the functions of the Amr1 gene are important to the success of A. brassicicola as a competitive saprophyte and plant parasite gene expression profile comparisons between wild type and a transcription factor mutant during the late stage of host infection