No abstract

During pathogenesis, fungal pathogens are exposed to a variety of fungitoxic compounds. This may be particularly relevant to Botrytis cinerea, a plant pathogen that has a broad host range and, consequently, is subjected to exposure to many plant defense compounds. In practice, the pathogen is controlled with fungicides belonging to different chemical groups. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters might provide protection against plant defense compounds and fungicides by ATP-driven efflux mechanisms. To test this hypothesis, we cloned BcatrB, an ABC transporter-encoding gene from B. cinerea. This gene encodes a 1,439 amino acid protein with nucleotide binding fold (NBF) and transmembrane (TM) domains in a [NBF-TM6]2 topology. The amino acid sequence has 31 to 67% identity with ABC transporters from various fungi. The expression of BcatrB is up regulated by treatment of B. cinerea germlings with the grapevine phytoalexin resveratrol and the fungicide fenpiclonil. BcatrB replacement mutants are not affected in saprophytic growth on different media but are more sensitive to resveratrol and fenpiclonil than the parental isolate. Furthermore, virulence of deltaBcatrB mutants on grapevine leaves was slightly reduced. These results indicate that BcatrB is a determinant in sensitivity of B. cinerea to plant defense compounds and fungicides.

No abstract

Two single-copy genes, designated atrA and atrB (ATP-binding cassette transporter A and B), were cloned from the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans and sequenced. Based on the presence of conserved motifs and on hydropathy analysis, the products encoded by atrA and atrB can be regarded as novel members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of membrane transporters. Both products share the same topology as the ABC transporters PDR5 and SNQ2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and CDR1 from Candida albicans, which are involved in multidrug resistance of these yeasts. Significant homology also occurs between the ATP-binding cassettes of AtrA and AtrB, and those of mammalian ABC transporters (P-glycoproteins). The transcription of atrA and, in particular, atrB in mycelium of A. nidulans is strongly enhanced by treatment with several drugs, including antibiotics, azole fungicides and plant defense toxins. The enhanced transcription is detectable within a few minutes after drug treatment and coincides with the beginning of energy-dependent drug efflux activity, reported previously in the fungus for azole fungicides. Transcription of the atr genes has been studied in a wild-type and in a series of isogenic strains carrying the imaA and/or imaB genes, which confer multidrug resistance to various toxic compounds such as the azole fungicide imazalil. atrB is constitutively transcribed at a low level in the wild-type and in strains carrying imaA or imaB. Imazalil treatment enhances transcription of atrB to a similar extent in all strains tested. atrA, unlike atrB, displays a relatively high level of constitutive expression in mutants carrying imaB. Imazalil enhances transcription of atrA more strongly in imaB mutants, suggesting that the imaB locus regulates atrA. Functional analysis demonstrated that cDNA of atrB can complement the drug hypersensitivity associated with PDR5 deficiency in S. cerevisiae.

This paper reports the functional characterization of AtrBp, an ABC transporter from Aspergillus nidulans. AtrBp is a multidrug transporter and has affinity to substrates belonging to all major classes of agricultural fungicides and some natural toxic compounds. The substrate profile of AtrBp was determined by assessing the sensitivity of deletion and overexpression mutants of atrB to several toxicants. All mutants showed normal growth as compared to control isolates. ∆atrB mutants displayed increased sensitivity to anilinopyrimidine, benzimidazole, phenylpyrrole, phenylpyridylamine, strobirulin and some azole fungicides. Increased sensitivity to the natural toxic compounds camptothecin (alkaloid), the phytoalexin resveratrol (stilbene) and the mutagen 4-nitroquinoline oxide was also found. Overexpression mutants were less sensitive to a wide range of chemicals. In addition to the compounds mentioned above, decreased sensitivity to a broader range of azoles, dicarboximides, quintozene, acriflavine and rhodamine 6G was observed. Decreased sensitivity in overexpression mutants negatively correlated with levels of atrB expression. Interestingly, the overexpression mutants displayed increased sensitivity to dithiocarbamate fungicides, chlorothalonil and the iron-activated antibiotic phleomycin. Accumulation of the azole fungicide [ 14 C]fenarimol by the overexpression mutants was lower as compared to the parental isolate, demonstrating that AtrBp acts by preventing intracellular accumulation of the toxicant. Various metabolic inhibitors increased accumulation levels of [ 14 C]fenarimol in the overexpression mutants to wildtype levels, indicating that reduced accumulation of the fungicide in these mutants is due to increased energy-dependent efflux as a result of higher pump capacity of AtrBp.