Characterization of mitogenomes from four Mucorales species and insights into pathogenicity

Abstract

Background Mucorales, as one major order of Zygomycetes fungi, can infect human beings and cause serious consequence. We have noticed the pathogenicity of Mucorales is closely related to energy metabolism, while mitochondria play the role of energy factories in almost all biological activities. Methods Virulence of M irregularis, M hiemalis, L corymbifera and R arrhizus were verified in Galleria mellonella larvae, as well as mitochondrial gene copies analysed with RT‐qPCR. Mitogenomes of the four Mucorales species were sequenced based on illumina NovaSeq technology to study their characteristic features and functional regions. Results Variant virulence of M irregularis, M hiemalis, L corymbifera and R arrhizu were verified by clinical retrospective data and our G mellonella infection models, also copies of mitochondrial genes indicated the significant associations with pathogenicity. A total of 274.18 clean reads were generated to be assembled; the complete mitogenomes of the four Mucorales species were obtained with totally different length. After the genomes annotated and compared, M irregularis was found more similar with M hiemalis than those of L corymbifera and R arrhizus, especially the small (rrns) and large (rrnl) subunits of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The GC content, ncRNAs and the distribution of the SNPs and InDels were also compared, and the GC content rate of fungi seems to be related to the fungal thermal adaptability. In addition, linear mitogenomes of these four Mucorales showed diverse arrangements of orf genes and directionality of some conserved gene elements. Conclusion This study uncovered the pathogenicity variances among the four Mucorales species and the relationship between their mitogenomic features and clinical pathogenicity. Further studies like spatial structure of mitochondrial genomes and the comprehensive analysis of transcription regulation are needed.

Identificación de hongos filamentosos asociados al suelo del bosque protegido de Prosperina

“…Finalmente, géneros en menor proporción como curvularia, fusarium consideradas especies dominantes al encontrarse en muchos sutratos y en suelos agrícolas pueden llegar a ser desde hongos endófitos hasta patógenos de plantas o suelos en descomposición 32,33 , también el género Purpureocillium algunos como patógenos de nemátodos pueden actuar produciendo metabolitos tóxicos entre otros 34 , el género Cladosporium es que ha sido considerado como mohos de interiores y exteriores, también se han podido encontrar que algunas especies pueden compartir características de endófitos hasta propiedades de biorremediación 35 . Así también, los géneros Cunninghamella, Clamadomices y Absidia del género mucorales que pueden ser oportunistas y causar afectaciones en la salud humana 36 , Clonostachys estudiados como posibles agentes de control biológico 37 . En general, los hongos encontrados, aunque en menor proporción sugiere la posibilidad de incorporarlos en pruebas de control biológico para la búsqueda de nuevos inhibidores para el control de plagas.…”