Fernando Belezini Vinha, Luis Angel Chicoma Rojas, Cinara Ramos Sales, Natalia Sarmanho Monteiro Lima, Joacir Do Nascimento, Lucas Amoroso Lopes De Carvalho, Eliana Gertrudes De Macedo Lemos
{"title":"Negative effects on the development of <i>Chrysodeixis includens</i> and <i>Spodoptera cosmioides</i> fed by peanut plants inoculated with entomopathogenic fungi.","authors":"Fernando Belezini Vinha, Luis Angel Chicoma Rojas, Cinara Ramos Sales, Natalia Sarmanho Monteiro Lima, Joacir Do Nascimento, Lucas Amoroso Lopes De Carvalho, Eliana Gertrudes De Macedo Lemos","doi":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.968528","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/ffunb.2022.968528","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent studies have shown that entomopathogenic fungi, as endophytes, can have beneficial effects on plants, protecting them from defoliating insects. The potential of endophytic association by entomopathogenic fungi with the peanut crop has been little explored. In our study, we conducted experiments by inoculation of peanut seeds through a soil drench method with nine strains/species of entomopathogenic fungi of the genera <i>Metarhizium</i>, <i>Beauveria</i> and <i>Cordyceps</i>, subsequently these plants were consumed by two larval pests, <i>Chrysodeixis includens</i> and <i>Spodoptera cosmioides</i>. The parameters of larval growth rates, mortality, foliar consumption and larval period were observed during the development of larvae. In addition, the endophytic capacity of these fungi in peanut plants and their persistence in soil were investigated. In two replicate greenhouse trials for each larva, peanut plants were inoculated with fungi by the soil-drench method. We evaluated the performance of <i>C. includens</i> and <i>S. cosmioides</i> feeding on inoculated peanut plants starting at the 2nd larval instar. The larval and pupal weights of <i>C. includens</i> and <i>S. cosmioides</i> were significantly different among the fungal treatment groups, where insects feeding on control plants exhibited higher larval and pupal weights than insects feeding on treated plants. The differences in larval period showed that Control larvae pupated faster than the larvae fed on fungal-inoculated plants, fungal treatments had a larval period of 3 to 5 days more than the control. The mortality rates of <i>C. includens</i> and <i>S. cosmioides</i> were significantly different among the fungal treatment groups, insects fed on Control plants exhibited higher survival than insects fed on fungal-inoculated plants. The persistence of all <i>Metarhizium</i> fungi was higher in the soil compared to other fungi, and only <i>Metarhizium</i> and <i>B. bassiana</i> IBCB215 emerged from the phyllosphere of peanut plants. Although the fungus Cordyceps presented the worst performance among the fungal treatments. Overall, our results demonstrate the negative effects on the development of <i>C. includens</i> and <i>S. cosmioides</i> that were fed on fungal-inoculated peanut plants, the best results recorded were for <i>Metarhizium</i> strains and the fungus <i>B. bassiana</i> IBCB215.</p>","PeriodicalId":73084,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in fungal biology","volume":"3 ","pages":"968528"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10512306/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41169024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Discovery of a gene cluster for the biosynthesis of novel cyclic peptide compound, KK-1, in <i>Curvularia clavata</i>.","authors":"Shigenari Yamaguchi, Tomonori Fujioka, Akira Yoshimi, Toshitaka Kumagai, Maiko Umemura, Keietsu Abe, Masayuki Machida, Kiyoshi Kawai","doi":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.1081179","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/ffunb.2022.1081179","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>KK-1, a cyclic depsipeptide with 10 residues produced by a filamentous fungus <i>Curvularia clavata</i> BAUA-2787, is a promising pesticide active compound with high activity against many plant pathogens, especially <i>Botrytis cinerea</i>. As a first step toward the future mass production of KK-1 through synthetic biological approaches, we aimed to identify the genes responsible for the KK-1 biosynthesis. To achieve this, we conducted whole genome sequencing and transcriptome analysis of <i>C. clavata</i> BAUA-2787 to predict the KK-1 biosynthetic gene cluster. We then generated the overexpression and deletion mutants for each cluster gene using our originally developed transformation system for this fungus, and analyzed the KK-1 production and the cluster gene expression levels to confirm their involvement in KK-1 biosynthesis. As a result of these, a region of approximately 71 kb was found, containing 10 open reading frames, which were co-induced during KK-1 production, as a biosynthetic gene cluster. These include <i>kk1B</i>, which encodes nonribosomal peptide synthetase with a domain structure that is consistent with the structural features of KK-1, and <i>kk1F</i>, which encodes a transcription factor. The overexpression of <i>kk1F</i> increased the expression of the entire cluster genes and, consequently, improved KK-1 production, whereas its deletion decreased the expression of the entire cluster genes and almost eliminated KK-1 production, demonstrating that the protein encoded by <i>kk1F</i> regulates the expressions of the other nine cluster genes cooperatively as the pathway-specific transcription factor. Furthermore, the deletion of each cluster gene caused a reduction in KK-1 productivity, indicating that each gene is involved in KK-1 production. The genes <i>kk1A</i>, <i>kk1D</i>, <i>kk1H</i>, and <i>kk1I</i>, which showed a significant decrease in KK-1 productivity due to deletion, were presumed to be directly involved in KK-1 structure formation, including the biosynthesis of the constituent residues. <i>kk1C</i>, <i>kk1E</i>, <i>kk1G</i>, and <i>kk1J</i>, which maintained a certain level of KK-1 productivity despite deletion, were possibly involved in promoting or assisting KK-1 production, such as extracellular transportation and the removal of aberrant units incorporated into the peptide chain.</p>","PeriodicalId":73084,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in fungal biology","volume":"3 ","pages":"1081179"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10512319/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41170986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cleavage of α-1,4-glycosidic linkages by the glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored α-amylase AgtA decreases the molecular weight of cell wall α-1,3-glucan in <i>Aspergillus oryzae</i>.","authors":"Ami Koizumi, Ken Miyazawa, Makoto Ogata, Yuzuru Takahashi, Shigekazu Yano, Akira Yoshimi, Motoaki Sano, Masafumi Hidaka, Takanori Nihira, Hiroyuki Nakai, Satoshi Kimura, Tadahisa Iwata, Keietsu Abe","doi":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.1061841","DOIUrl":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.1061841","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Aspergillus</i> fungi contain α-1,3-glucan with a low proportion of α-1,4-glucan as a major cell wall polysaccharide. Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored α-amylases are conserved in <i>Aspergillus</i> fungi. The GPI-anchored α-amylase AmyD in <i>Aspergillus nidulans</i> has been reported to directly suppress the biosynthesis of cell wall α-1,3-glucan but not to degrade it <i>in vivo</i>. However, the detailed mechanism of cell wall α-1,3-glucan biosynthesis regulation by AmyD remains unclear. Here we focused on AoAgtA, which is encoded by the <i>Aspergillus oryzae agtA</i> gene, an ortholog of the <i>A. nidulans amyD</i> gene. Similar to findings in <i>A. nidulans</i>, <i>agtA</i> overexpression in <i>A. oryzae</i> grown in submerged culture decreased the amount of cell wall α-1,3-glucan and led to the formation of smaller hyphal pellets in comparison with the wild-type strain. We analyzed the enzymatic properties of recombinant (r)AoAgtA produced in <i>Pichia pastoris</i> and found that it degraded soluble starch, but not linear bacterial α-1,3-glucan. Furthermore, rAoAgtA cleaved 3-α-maltotetraosylglucose with a structure similar to the predicted boundary structure between the α-1,3-glucan main chain and a short spacer composed of α-1,4-linked glucose residues in cell wall α-1,3-glucan. Interestingly, rAoAgtA randomly cleaved only the α-1,4-glycosidic bonds of 3-α-maltotetraosylglucose, indicating that AoAgtA may cleave the spacer in cell wall α-1,3-glucan. Consistent with this hypothesis, heterologous overexpression of <i>agtA</i> in <i>A. nidulans</i> decreased the molecular weight of cell wall α-1,3-glucan. These <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> properties of AoAgtA suggest that GPI-anchored α-amylases can degrade the spacer α-1,4-glycosidic linkages in cell wall α-1,3-glucan before its insolubilization, and this spacer cleavage decreases the molecular weight of cell wall α-1,3-glucan <i>in vivo</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":73084,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in fungal biology","volume":"3 ","pages":"1061841"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10512346/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41160625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Warre Van Caenegem, Piotr Ceryngier, Jerzy Romanowski, Donald H Pfister, Danny Haelewaters
{"title":"<i>Hesperomyces</i> (Fungi, Ascomycota) associated with <i>Hyperaspis</i> ladybirds (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae): Rethinking host specificity.","authors":"Warre Van Caenegem, Piotr Ceryngier, Jerzy Romanowski, Donald H Pfister, Danny Haelewaters","doi":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.1040102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/ffunb.2022.1040102","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniomycetes) are biotrophic microfungi always attached to the exoskeleton of their arthropod hosts. They do not form hyphae or a mycelium; instead, they undergo determinate growth, developing from a two-celled ascospore to form a multicellular thallus. <i>Hesperomyces virescens</i> has been reported on over 30 species of ladybirds (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae); in reality, it represents a complex of species, presumably segregated by host genus association. In this study, we report on <i>Hesperomyces</i> thalli on <i>Hyperaspis vinciguerrae</i> from the Canary Islands and compare them with the <i>Hesperomyces hyperaspidis</i> described on <i>Hyperaspis</i> sp. from Trinidad. We generated the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, the large subunit (LSU) nuclear ribosomal RNA gene, and the minichromosome maintenance complex component 7 (<i>MCM7</i>) protein-coding gene. Our phylogenetic reconstruction of <i>Hesperomyces</i> based on a concatenated ITS-LSU-<i>MCM7</i> dataset revealed <i>Hesperomyces</i> sp. ex <i>Hy. vinciguerrae</i> as a member of the <i>He. virescens</i> species complex distinct from <i>He. virescens sensu stricto</i> (s.s.). It also revealed that the <i>Hesperomyces</i> sp. ex <i>Chilocorus bipustulatus</i> from Algeria is different from <i>He. virescens</i> s.s., which is associated with <i>Chilocorus stigma</i> from the USA. This suggests that the species of <i>Hesperomyces</i> are not solely segregated by host association, but that there is also a biogeographical component involved. Based on these data, we refrained from referring our material from <i>Hy. vinciguerrae</i> to <i>He. hyperaspidis</i>. Finally, we discuss the usefulness of <i>MCM7</i> as a useful marker for species delimitation in <i>Hesperomyces</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":73084,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in fungal biology","volume":"3 ","pages":"1040102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10512334/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41146959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rajendra Upadhya, Woei C Lam, Camaron R Hole, Joseph G Vasselli, Jennifer K Lodge
{"title":"Cell wall composition in <i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i> is media dependent and alters host response, inducing protective immunity.","authors":"Rajendra Upadhya, Woei C Lam, Camaron R Hole, Joseph G Vasselli, Jennifer K Lodge","doi":"10.3389/ffunb.2023.1183291","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/ffunb.2023.1183291","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong><i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i> is a basidiomycete fungus that can cause meningoencephalitis, especially in immunocompromised patients. Cryptococcus grows in many different media, although little attention has been paid to the role of growth conditions on the cryptococcal cell wall or on virulence.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The purpose of this study was to determine how different media influenced the amount of chitin and chitosan in the cell wall, which in turn impacted the cell wall architecture and host response.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Yeast extract, peptone, and dextrose (YPD) and yeast nitrogen base (YNB) are two commonly used media for growing Cryptococcus before use in in vitro or in vivo experiments. As a result, <i>C. neoformans</i> was grown in either YPD or YNB, which were either left unbuffered or buffered to pH 7 with MOPS. These cells were then labeled with cell wall-specific fluorescent probes to determine the amounts of various cell wall components. In addition, these cells were employed in animal virulence studies using the murine inhalation model of infection.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We observed that the growth of wild-type <i>C. neoformans</i> KN99 significantly changes the pH of unbuffered media during growth. It raises the pH to 8.0 when grown in unbuffered YPD but lowers the pH to 2.0 when grown in unbuffered YNB (YNB-U). Importantly, the composition of the cell wall was substantially impacted by growth in different media. Cells grown in YNB-U exhibited a 90% reduction in chitosan, the deacetylated form of chitin, compared with cells grown in YPD. The decrease in pH and chitosan in the YNB-U-grown cells was associated with a significant increase in some pathogen-associated molecular patterns on the surface of cells compared with cells grown in YPD or YNB, pH 7. This altered cell wall architecture resulted in a significant reduction in virulence when tested using a murine model of infection. Furthermore, when heat-killed cells were used as the inoculum, KN99 cells grown in YNB-U caused an aberrant hyper-inflammatory response in the lungs, resulting in rapid animal death. In contrast, heat-killed KN99 cells grown in YNB, pH 7, caused little to no inflammatory response in the host lung, but, when used as a vaccine, they conferred a robust protective response against a subsequent challenge infection with the virulent KN99 cells.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings emphasize the importance of culture media and pH during growth in shaping the content and organization of the <i>C. neoformans</i> cell wall, as well as their impact on fungal virulence and the host response.</p>","PeriodicalId":73084,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in fungal biology","volume":"4 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10399910/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9942899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How to improve the production of peptidyl compounds in filamentous fungi.","authors":"Maiko Umemura, Koichi Tamano","doi":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.1085624","DOIUrl":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.1085624","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Peptidyl compounds produced by filamentous fungi, which are nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) and ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs), are rich sources of bioactive compounds with a wide variety of structures. Some of these peptidyl compounds are useful as pharmaceuticals and pesticides. However, for industrial use, their low production often becomes an obstacle, and various approaches have been challenged to overcome this weakness. In this article, we summarize the successful attempts to increase the production of NRPs and RiPPs in filamentous fungi and present our perspectives on how to improve it further.</p>","PeriodicalId":73084,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in fungal biology","volume":"3 ","pages":"1085624"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10512285/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41124680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pedro Góes Mesquita, Laiza Magalhaes de Araujo, Francisco de Assis Rocha Neves, Maria de Fátima Borin
{"title":"Metabolites of endophytic fungi isolated from leaves of <i>Bauhinia variegata</i> exhibit antioxidant activity and agonist activity on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors α, β/δ and γ.","authors":"Pedro Góes Mesquita, Laiza Magalhaes de Araujo, Francisco de Assis Rocha Neves, Maria de Fátima Borin","doi":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.1049690","DOIUrl":"10.3389/ffunb.2022.1049690","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Diabetes mellitus</i> is a metabolic disorder that affects millions of people worldwide and is linked to oxidative stress and inflammation. Thiazolidinediones (TZD) improve insulin sensitization and glucose homeostasis mediated by the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ (PPARγ) in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, their use is associated with severe adverse effects such as loss of bone mass, retention of body fluids, liver and heart problems, and increased risk of bladder cancer. Partial PPARγ agonists can promote the beneficial effects of thiazolidinediones with fewer adverse effects. Endophytic fungi colonize plant tissues and have a particularly active metabolism caused by the interaction with them, which leads to the production of natural products with significant biological effects that may be like that of the colonized plant. Here, we identify seven endophytic fungi isolated from <i>Bauhinia variegata</i> leaves that have antioxidant activities. Also, one of the extracts presented pan-agonist activity on PPAR, and another showed activity in PPARα and PPARβ/δ. A better understanding of this relationship could help to comprehend the mechanism of action of antioxidants in treating diabetes and its complications. Moreover, compounds with these capabilities to reduce oxidative stress and activate the receptor that promotes glucose homeostasis are promising candidates in treatment of diabetes.</p>","PeriodicalId":73084,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in fungal biology","volume":"3 ","pages":"1049690"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10512301/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41173667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}