Project description:The plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum (Fgr) creates economic and health risks in cereals agriculture. Fgr causes head blight (or scab) of wheat and stalk rot of corn, reducing yield, degrading grain quality and polluting downstream food products with mycotoxins. Fungal plant pathogens must secrete proteases to access nutrition and to breakdown the structural protein component of the plant cell wall. Research into the proteolytic activity of Fgr is hindered by the complex nature of the suite of proteases secreted. We used a systems biology approach comprising genome analysis, transcriptomics and label-free quantitative proteomics to characterise the peptidases deployed by Fgr during growth. A combined analysis of published microarray transcriptome datasets revealed seven transcriptional groupings of peptidases based on in vitro growth, in planta growth, and sporulation behaviours. An orbitrap MS/MS proteomics technique defined the extracellular proteases secreted by Fusarium graminearum.
Project description:Salicylic acid (SA) is one of the key signal molecules in regulating plant resistance to diverse pathogens. It is predominantly associated with resistance against biotrophic and hemibiotrophic pathogens, and triggering systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in Arabidopsis. However, whether and how SA directly affects Fusarium graminearum and how SA influences the defence efficiency of wheat against fusarium head blight (FHB) are still poorly understood. Previous experiments have shown that the growth of F. graminearum mycelia and the germination of spores were significantly inhibited, and eventually stopped by increasing amounts of SA in both liquid and solid media cultures. Co-inoculation of SA and Fg spores has led to reduced FHB symptoms in the very susceptible Triticum aestivum cultivar ‘Roblin’. To better understand the effect of SA on F. graminearum mycelial growth, we have compared the expression profiles of SA-treated and untreated F. graminearum liquid cultures after 8 and 24 h of treatment, using an F. graminearum custom-commercial microarray. The microarray analysis suggests that F. graminearum can metabolize SA through two pathways, the gentisate and catechol pathways that are present in many fungal species. Additional experiments have confirmed the capacity of F. graminearum to metabolize SA. Our results demonstrate that, although F. graminearum has the capacity to metabolize SA, SA has a significant and direct impact on F. graminearum through a reduction in efficiency of germination and growth at higher concentrations.
Project description:Salicylic acid (SA) is one of the key signal molecules in regulating plant resistance to diverse pathogens. It is predominantly associated with resistance against biotrophic and hemibiotrophic pathogens, and triggering systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in Arabidopsis. However, whether and how SA directly affects Fusarium graminearum and how SA influences the defence efficiency of wheat against fusarium head blight (FHB) are still poorly understood. Previous experiments have shown that the growth of F. graminearum mycelia and the germination of spores were significantly inhibited, and eventually stopped by increasing amounts of SA in both liquid and solid media cultures. Co-inoculation of SA and Fg spores has led to reduced FHB symptoms in the very susceptible Triticum aestivum cultivar ‘Roblin’. To better understand the effect of SA on F. graminearum mycelial growth, we have compared the expression profiles of SA-treated and untreated F. graminearum liquid cultures after 8 and 24 h of treatment, using an F. graminearum custom-commercial microarray. The microarray analysis suggests that F. graminearum can metabolize SA through two pathways, the gentisate and catechol pathways that are present in many fungal species. Additional experiments have confirmed the capacity of F. graminearum to metabolize SA. Our results demonstrate that, although F. graminearum has the capacity to metabolize SA, SA has a significant and direct impact on F. graminearum through a reduction in efficiency of germination and growth at higher concentrations. Untreated and Salicylic Acid (SA) treated liquid cultures of F. graminearum at 8h and 24h collection times. Three biological replicates per time point and treatment, 2 technical replicates (dye flips) per sample.