The microbial assemblies on the surface of plants correlate with specific climatic features, suggesting a direct link between environmental conditions and microbial inhabitation patterns. At the same time however, microbial communities demonstrate distinct profiles depending on the plant species and region of origin. In this study, we report Next Generation Sequencing-based metagenomic analysis of microbial communities associated with apple and blackcurrant fruits harvested from Lithuania and the Czech Republic. Differences in the taxonomic composition of eukaryotic and prokaryotic microorganisms were observed between plant types. Our results revealed limited geographic differentiation between the bacterial and fungal communities associated with apples. In contrast, blackcurrant berries harvested from different regions demonstrated high diversity in both bacterial and fungal microbiota structures. Among fungal and bacterial microorganisms, we identified both potentially beneficial (Cryptococcus, Hanseniaspora, Massilia, Rhodotorula, Sphingomonas) and phytopathogenic microorganisms (Cladosporium, Pantoea, Phoma, Pseudomonas, Septoria, Taphrina) indicating their important roles in ecological and evolutionary processes.

The Saccharomycetaceae yeast family recently became recognized for expanding of the repertoire of different dsRNA-based viruses, highlighting the need for understanding of their cross-dependence. We isolated the Saccharomyces paradoxus AML-15-66 killer strain from spontaneous fermentation of serviceberries and identified helper and satellite viruses of the family Totiviridae, which are responsible for the killing phenotype. The corresponding full dsRNA genomes of viruses have been cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis of SpV-LA-66 identified it to be most similar to S. paradoxus LA-28 type viruses, while SpV-M66 was mostly similar to the SpV-M21 virus. Sequence and functional analysis revealed significant differences between the K66 and the K28 toxins. The structural organization of the K66 protein resembled those of the K1/K2 type toxins. The AML-15-66 strain possesses the most expressed killing property towards the K28 toxin-producing strain. A genetic screen performed on S. cerevisiae YKO library strains revealed 125 gene products important for the functioning of the S. paradoxus K66 toxin, with 85% of the discovered modulators shared with S. cerevisiae K2 or K1 toxins. Investigation of the K66 protein binding to cells and different polysaccharides implies the β-1,6 glucans to be the primary receptors of S. paradoxus K66 toxin. For the first time, we demonstrated the coherent habitation of different types of helper and satellite viruses in a wild-type S. paradoxus strain.

b Certain Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains secrete different killer proteins of double-stranded-RNA origin. These proteins confer a growth advantage to their host by increasing its survival. K2 toxin affects the target cell by binding to the cell surface, disrupting the plasma membrane integrity, and inducing ion leakage. In this study, we determined that K2 toxin saturates the yeast cell surface receptors in 10 min. The apparent amount of K2 toxin, bound to a single cell of wild type yeast under saturating conditions, was estimated to be 435 to 460 molecules. It was found that an increased level of ␤-1,6-glucan directly correlates with the number of toxin molecules bound, thereby impacting the morphology and determining the fate of the yeast cell. We observed that the binding of K2 toxin to the yeast surface receptors proceeds in a similar manner as in case of the related K1 killer protein. It was demonstrated that the externally supplied pustulan, a poly-␤-1,6-glucan, but not the glucans bearing other linkage types (such as laminarin, chitin, and pullulan) efficiently inhibits the K2 toxin killing activity. In addition, the analysis of toxin binding to the intact cells and spheroplasts confirmed that majority of K2 protein molecules attach to the ␤-1,6-glucan, rather than the plasma membrane-localized receptors. Taken together, our results reveal that ␤-1,6-glucan is a primary target of K2 toxin and is important for the execution of its killing property.T he production of antimycotic killer toxins has been observed in several yeast genera and proved to be a widespread phenomenon (1, 2). Killer strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae secrete protein toxins derived from a family of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs). The toxins have been grouped into four types (K1, K2, K28, and Klus) based on their killing profiles and lack of crossimmunity (3, 4). Such proteins are able to kill the nonkiller yeast, as well as yeast of other killer types, while the toxin-producing cells remain immune to their own or to the same type of killers (4, 5). K1 toxin disrupts the regulated ion flux across the plasma membrane, leading to the death of sensitive yeast strains (6, 7). The killing action of K1 toxin involves at least two steps. During the first step, the toxin binds to the cell wall, whereas the second step leads to the translocation and insertion of the toxin into the plasma membrane (6). Beta-1,6-glucan was originally proposed to be a cell wall receptor for K1 (8). Analysis of several kre mutants demonstrated that decrease of the cell wall ␤-1,6-glucan level leads to K1 resistance, thus confirming the involvement of this type of glucan in toxin binding (9). During the second step, K1 toxin interacts with plasma membrane receptors and disrupts the functional integrity of the plasma membrane either by inducing the formation of new ion channels (7) or through the activation of existing potassium channels (10). Products of TOK1 (protein, forming the potassium ion channel) and KRE1 (glycoprotein, involved in ␤-glucan assembly) have be...

Background Six Sarcocystis species are known to use cattle (Bos taurus) as the intermediate host, two of which, S. hominis and S. heydorni, are zoonotic. There is a need for a method that will enable rapid identification of the Sarcocystis species in cattle. Methods The diaphragm muscles of 102 cattle from Lithuania were examined for the presence of Sarcocystis spp., using two different methods for species identification. Individual sarcocysts were isolated from squash preparations of the diaphragm muscle under the light microscope, followed by genetic characterisation of excised cysts using sequence analysis of the 18S rRNA (18S rRNA) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) genes. The same cattle muscle samples were digested and species-specific PCR analyses targeting cox1 were developed to identify the Sarcocystis isolates to the species level. Results Under the light microscope, sarcocysts were detected in 87.3% of animals, and Sarcocystis infection was verified in all digested samples. Three species, namely S. cruzi (n = 20), S. bovifelis (n = 23) and S. hirsuta (n = 6), were identified by DNA sequence analysis of isolated sarcocysts. Based on sequence analysis of cox1, the level of genetic variability depended on Sarcocystis species and geographical location. Four Sarcocystis species, S. cruzi (96.1%), S. bovifelis (71.6%), S. hirsuta (30.4%) and S. hominis (13.7%), were confirmed in the digested samples. In individual samples, the most common finding was two species of Sarcocystis (44.1%), followed by three species (26.5%), a single species (24.5%) and four species (4.9%). Conclusions Although examination of tissue preparations under the light microscrope did not detect any sarcocysts belonging to S. hominis, this species was identified in the digested samples subjected to a cox1-specific PCR analysis. These results demonstrate the need for effective molecular diagnosis techniques to detect Sarcocystis spp., which may be present at a lower prevalence and not detectable among the limited number of sarcocysts identified individually under the light microscope.

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