0000000001316564

AUTHOR

Karsten Andresen

Rapid adaptation of signaling networks in the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae

Abstract Background One fundamental question in biology is how the evolution of eukaryotic signaling networks has taken place. “Loss of function” (lof) mutants from components of the high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) signaling pathway in the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae are viable, but impaired in osmoregulation. Results After long-term cultivation upon high osmolarity, stable individuals with reestablished osmoregulation capacity arise independently from each of the mutants with inactivated HOG pathway. This phenomenon is extremely reproducible and occurs only in osmosensitive mutants related to the HOG pathway – not in other osmosensitive Magnaporthe mutants. The major compatible so…

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MOESM7 of Rapid adaptation of signaling networks in the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae

Additional file 7: Figure S6. qPCR results of selected genes. qRT-PCR analysis of putative genes in MoWT, the “lof” mutants ΔMohog1 and ΔMohog1(adapted). The M. oryzae cultures were grown for 96 h in CM at 26 °C and 100 rpm. Each of the cultures was separated into two samples, one mixed with 0.5 M KCl and one untreated control further grown in CM at 26 °C and 100 rpm). Samples were taken after 25 min. The RNA was isolated from the mycelium samples and the results of transcript abundance given relative to quantification in the MoWT untreated control. Three biological replicates were used of each.

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Additional file 3: Figure S2. Investigation of the â adaptation-frequencyâ in Magnaporthe oryzae mutants with inactivated components of the HOG signaling cascade.

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Additional file 4: Figure S3. Mycelium dry weight of the Magnaporthe oryzae wildtype strain, mutants with inactivated components of the HOG signaling cascade and the “adapted” strains after growth in liquid culture upon sorbitol-stress. The fungal colonies were grown in 250 ml complete medium inclusive 1,5 M sorbitol for 6 d at 26 °C and 120 rpm. Error bars represent the standard deviation of three biological replicates of each strain.

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MOESM6 of Rapid adaptation of signaling networks in the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae

Additional file 6: Figure S5. VENN diagram of putative structural variations in promotor [A] and in coding sequences (CDS) [B] within the genome of ΔMohog1, ΔMohog1(adapted) and ΔMopbs2(adapted). Numbers in the intersection regions represent overlapping SNPs among the strains. Numbers in parentheses show the corresponding relative percentage of genes harbouring the SNPs.

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The Biocontrol Agent and Insect Pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens Interacts with Plant Roots

ABSTRACT The number of sustainable agriculture techniques to improve pest management and environmental safety is rising, as biological control agents are used to enhance disease resistance and abiotic stress tolerance in crops. Here, we investigated the capacity of the Photorhabdus luminescens secondary variant to react to plant root exudates and their behavior toward microorganisms in the rhizosphere. P. luminescens is known to live in symbiosis with entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) and to be highly pathogenic toward insects. The P. luminescens-EPN relationship has been widely studied, and this combination has been used as a biological control agent; however, not much attention has been p…

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MOESM5 of Rapid adaptation of signaling networks in the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae

Additional file 5: Figure S4. Pathogenicity assay of the MoWT, the lof mutants and the â adaptedâ strains. The plant infection assays were carried out as described in experimental procedures. The error bars represent the standard deviation of three experiments with three replicates each.

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The exceptionality of stress response in Magnaporthe oryzae: a set of “salt stress-induced” genes unique to the rice blast fungus

The ability of pathogens to signal perception and adaptation to environmental changes is an important prerequisite for successful colonization of the host organism. Filamentous phytopathogenic fungi, for example, have to cope with rapid changes in the environment during invasive growth in planta. Consequently, they have evolved a range of specific factors contributing to environmental adaptation facilitating host invasion. In addition to conserved pathways, including genes participating in stress response, unique/individual genes within the pathogens might represent determinants of pathogenicity. Therefore, identification of unique genes could provide a set of excellent candidates for novel…

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Additional file 2: Figure S1. Schematic presentation and verification of the MoWT, the lof-mutants and the adapted strains by southern hybridization within the Magnaporthe oryzae genome. Southern blot analysis of gene deletion/disruption mutants in M. oryzae with gene specific probes. Genomic DNA of M. oryzae strain 70â 15 and the mutants was isolated and restricted with restriction enzymes. The probes which we used for hybridization with the genomic DNA of the wildtype strain and the corresponding mutant strains were always identical.

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Identification of factors involved in dimorphism and pathogenicity of Zymoseptoria tritici

A forward genetics approach was applied in order to investigate the molecular basis of morphological transition in the wheat pathogenic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici. Z. tritici is a dimorphic plant pathogen displaying environmentally regulated morphogenetic transition between yeast-like and hyphal growth. Considering the infection mode of Z. tritici, the switching to hyphal growth is essential for pathogenicity allowing the fungus the host invasion through natural openings like stomata. We exploited a previously developed Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) to generate a mutant library by insertional mutagenesis including more than 10,000 random mutants. To identify gene…

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Additional file 1: SVs summary.

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