Alongkorn Amnuaykanjanasin

The ABC transporter ATR1 is necessary for efflux of the toxin cercosporin in the fungus Cercospora nicotianae

The Cercospora nicotianae mutant deficient for the CRG1 transcription factor has marked reductions in both resistance and biosynthesis of the toxin cercosporin. We cloned and sequenced full-length copies of two genes, ATR1 and CnCFP, previously identified from a subtractive library between the wild type (WT) and a crg1 mutant. ATR1 is an ABC transporter gene and has an open reading frame (ORF) of 4368bp with one intron. CnCFP encodes a MFS transporter with homology to Cercospora kikuchii CFP, previously implicated in cercosporin export, and has an ORF of 1975bp with three introns. Disruption of ATR1 indicated atr1-null mutants had dramatic reductions in cercosporin production (25% and 20% of WT levels) in solid and liquid cultures, respectively. The ATR1 disruptants also showed moderately higher sensitivity to cercosporin. Constitutive expression of ATR1 in the crg1 mutant restored cercosporin biosynthesis and moderately increased resistance. In contrast, CnCFP overexpression in the mutant did not restore toxin production, however, it moderately enhanced toxin resistance. The results together indicate ATR1 acts as a cercosporin efflux pump in this fungus and plays a partial role in resistance.

Insect-Specific Polyketide Synthases (PKSs), Potential PKS-Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase Hybrids, and Novel PKS Clades in Tropical Fungi

ABSTRACT Polyketides draw much attention because of their potential use in pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications. This study identifies an abundant pool of polyketide synthase (PKS) genes from local isolates of tropical fungi found in Thailand in three different ecological niches: insect pathogens, marine inhabitants, and lichen mutualists. We detected 149 PKS genes from 48 fungi using PCR with PKS-specific degenerate primers. We identified and classified 283 additional PKS genes from 13 fungal genomes. Phylogenetic analysis of all these PKS sequences the comprising ketosynthase (KS) conserved region and the KS-acyltransferase interdomain region yielded results very similar to those for phylogenies of the KS domain and suggested a number of remarkable points. (i) Twelve PKS genes amplified from 12 different insect-pathogenic fungi form a tight cluster, although along with two PKS genes extracted from genomes of Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus, in reducing clade III. Some of these insect-specific fungal PKSs are nearly identical. (ii) We identified 38 new PKS-nonribosomal peptide synthetase hybrid genes in reducing clade II. (iii) Four distinct clades were discovered with more than 75% bootstrap support. We propose to designate the novel clade D1 with 100% bootstrap support “reducing clade V.” The newly cloned PKS genes from these tropical fungi should provide useful and diverse genetic resources for future research on the characterization of polyketide compounds synthesized by these enzymes.

Infection and colonization of tissues of the aphid Myzus persicae and cassava mealybug Phenacoccus manihoti by the fungus Beauveria bassiana

Histopathogenesis of living insects of Myzus persicae Sulzer (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Phenacoccus manihoti Matile‐Ferrero (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) by Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) was monitored from penetration through insect death. Important events in aphids included fungal penetration of the integument of the less-resistant leg intersegmental membrane and invasion of natural openings, formation of hyphal bodies in live aphids by three days post-inoculation (PI), and extensive hyphal colonization of the two leg segments closest to the insect body at death of the aphids. Confocal microscopy of green fluorescent protein-labeled B. bassiana in live mealybugs indicated the fungus penetrated the host through the legs and mouthparts. The fungus was scarce in live mealybugs at 1–5 days PI, formed hyphal bodies by six days PI, and growth was limited to parts of dead hosts at 6–7 days PI. In dead mealybugs, hyphal bodies were near solid tissue. Blastospores were in the hemolymph.

Phylogeny of type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) in fungal entomopathogens and expression analysis of PKS genes in Beauveria bassiana BCC 2660.

Entomopathogenic fungi are able to invade and kill insects. Various secondary metabolites can mediate the interaction of a fungal pathogen with an insect host and also help the fungus compete with other microbes. Here we screened 23 isolates of entomopathogenic fungi for polyketide synthase (PKS) genes and amplified 72 PKS gene fragments using degenerate PCR. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of conserved ketosynthase and acyltransferase regions in these 72 sequences and 72 PKSs identified from four insect fungal genome sequences. The resulting genealogy indicated 47 orthologous groups with 99-100 % bootstrap support, suggesting shared biosynthesis of identical or closely related compounds from different fungi. Three insect-specific groups were identified among the PKSs in reducing clades IIa, IIb, and III, which comprised PKSs from 12, 9, and 30 fungal isolates, respectively. A IIa-IIb pair could be found in seven fungi. Expression analyses revealed that eleven out of twelve PKS genes identified in Beauveria bassiana BCC 2660 were expressed in culture. PKS genes from insect-specific clades IIa and IIb were expressed only in insect-containing medium, while others were expressed only in PDB or in CYB, PDB and SDY. The data suggest the potential production of several polyketides in culture.

Culture degeneration in conidia of Beauveria bassiana and virulence determinants by proteomics

The quality of Beauveria bassiana conidia directly affects the virulence against insects. In this study, continuous subculturing of B. bassiana on both rice grains and potato dextrose agar (PDA) resulted in 55 and 49 % conidial yield reduction after 12 passages and 68 and 60 % virulence reduction after 20 and 12 passages at four d post-inoculation, respectively. The passage through Tenebrio molitor and Spodoptera exigua restored the virulence of rice and PDA subcultures, respectively. To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the conidial quality and the decline of virulence after multiple subculturing, we investigated the conidial proteomic changes. Successive subculturing markedly increased the protein levels in oxidative stress response, autophagy, amino acid homeostasis, and apoptosis, but decreased the protein levels in DNA repair, ribosome biogenesis, energy metabolism, and virulence. The nitro blue tetrazolium assay verified that the late subcultures colony and conidia had a higher oxidative stress level than the early subculture. A 2A-type protein phosphatase and a Pleckstrin homology domain protein Slm1, effector proteins of the target of rapamycin (TOR) complex 1 and 2, respectively, were dramatically increased in the late subculture. These results suggest that TOR signalling might be associated with ageing in B. bassiana late subculture, in turn affecting its physiological characteristics and virulence.

Genes differentially expressed under naphthoquinone-producing conditions in the entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis

The ant-pathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis BCC1869 produces six naphthoquinone (NQ) derivatives. These NQs can be found in fungal-infected ants or produced in culture. Also, the NQs have antibacterial, anticancer, and antimalarial activities and are red pigments with potential for use as natural colorants. Suppressive subtractive hybridization identified genes that were expressed under NQ-producing conditions but not under nonproducing conditions. On potato dextrose agar, the mycelia produced red pigments and secreted them into the medium and as droplets on top of the colony. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis indicated that the red pigment was predominantly erythrostominone with small amounts of its derivatives. For suppressive subtractive hybridization, the cDNA from O. unilateralis cultures on complete medium agar cultures (lacking NQs) were subtracted from those on potato dextrose agar (which produce and secrete NQs). Sixty-six unique expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were identified and include five transporter genes, two transcriptional regulator genes, and several genes in secondary metabolism and biodegradation. The transporter genes include an ATP-binding cassette transporter gene OuAtr1 and a major facilitator superfamily transporter gene OuMfs1. Expression of selected ESTs was further validated using quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Gene expression result indicates that OuAtr1 and OuMfs1 were dramatically upregulated (136- and 29-fold increase, respectively) during the NQ-producing stage compared with the NQ-nonproducing stage. Upregulation of other genes was also detected. This EST collection represents the first group of genes identified from this potential biocontrol agent and includes candidate genes for production and secretion of the red NQs. Roles of these genes could be further determined using a functional analysis.

The reducing clade IIb polyketide synthase PKS14 acts as a virulence determinant of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana

The reducing clade IIb polyketide synthase gene, pks14, is preserved throughout the evolution of entomopathogenic fungi. We examined the functions of pks14 in Beauveria bassiana using targeted gene disruption, and pks14 disruption was verified by Southern blot and PCR analyses. The radial growth, cell dry weight and conidial germination of Δpks14 were comparable to that of the wild type. Our sequence and gene expression analyses of the pks14 biosynthetic cluster demonstrated: (i) cotranscription and constitutive expression of nearly all the genes of the aforementioned cluster including the C2H2 zinc finger transcription regulator gene, but not pks14 and the cytochrome P450 gene; (ii) expression of the pks14 gene in the insect-containing culture condition only; and (iii) a KAR9-like gene in direct proximity with pks14 is the only gene showing co-regulation. The Δpks14-infected Spodoptera exigua larvae survived significantly longer than those infected by the wild type, indicating a marked reduction in the virulence of Δpks14 against the insect. LT50 of Δpks14 was increased by 1.55 days. Hyphal body formation was decreased in the hemolymph of insects infected by Δpks14 as compared with those inoculated by the wild type. Our results suggest that PKS14-catalyzed polyketide enhances virulence and pathogenicity of B. bassiana on insects.