A novel cascade allows Metarhizium robertsii to distinguish cuticle and hemocoel microenvironments during infection of insects

Pathogenic fungi precisely respond to dynamic microenvironments during infection, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium robertsii is a representative fungus in which to study broad themes of fungal pathogenicity as it resembles some major pla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS biology 2021-08, Vol.19 (8), p.e3001360-e3001360
Main Authors: Zhang, Xing, Meng, Yamin, Huang, Yizhou, Zhang, Dan, Fang, Weiguo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetyltransferase
Ascomycota
Biology and Life Sciences
Cadavers
Colonization
Cuticles
Development and progression
Diseases
Enzymes
Epicuticle
Epigenetics
Exoskeleton
Experiments
Fungi
Gene expression
Genes
Health aspects
Hemocoel
Histone deacetylase
Histones
Immune system
Infections
Insects
Kinases
Mammals
Metarhizium robertsii
Microenvironments
Mycoses
Pathogenesis
Pathogenicity
Pathogens
Penetration
Physical Sciences
Proteins
Research and Analysis Methods
Transcription factors
Yeast
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Summary:Pathogenic fungi precisely respond to dynamic microenvironments during infection, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium robertsii is a representative fungus in which to study broad themes of fungal pathogenicity as it resembles some major plant and mammalian pathogenic fungi in its pathogenesis. Here we report on a novel cascade that regulates response of M. robertsii to 2 distinct microenvironments during its pathogenesis. On the insect cuticle, the transcription factor COH2 activates expression of cuticle penetration genes. In the hemocoel, the protein COH1 is expressed due to the reduction in epigenetic repression conferred by the histone deacetylase HDAC1 and the histone 3 acetyltransferase HAT1. COH1 interacts with COH2 to reduce COH2 stability, and this down-regulates cuticle penetration genes and up-regulates genes for hemocoel colonization. Our work significantly advances the insights into fungal pathogenicity in insects.
ISSN:1545-7885
1544-9173
1545-7885
DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001360