Dimorphism in Fungal Pathogens of Mammals, Plants, and Insects

Gauthier, Gregory M.

doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1004608

Cited by 120 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…These morphological switches enhance pathogenicity by facilitating dispersal within the host and enabling evasion of host immune responses (Nadal et al, 2008;Gauthier, 2015). In other cases, the switch is in the opposite direction, which is mainly the case for plant pathogens (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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QTL mapping of temperature sensitivity reveals candidate genes for thermal adaptation and growth morphology in the plant pathogenic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici

et al. 2016

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Different thermal environments impose strong, differential selection on populations, leading to local adaptation, but the genetic basis of thermal adaptation is poorly understood. We used quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in the fungal wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici to study the genetic architecture of thermal adaptation and identify candidate genes. Four wild-type strains originating from the same thermal environment were crossed to generate two mapping populations with 263 (cross 1) and 261 (cross 2) progeny. Restriction site-associated DNA sequencing was used to genotype 9745 (cross 1) and 7333 (cross 2) singlenucleotide polymorphism markers segregating within the mapping population. Temperature sensitivity was assessed using digital image analysis of colonies growing at two different temperatures. We identified four QTLs for temperature sensitivity, with unique QTLs found in each cross. One QTL had a logarithm of odds score 411 and contained only six candidate genes, including PBS2, encoding a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase associated with low temperature tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This and other QTLs showed evidence for pleiotropy among growth rate, melanization and growth morphology, suggesting that many traits can be correlated with thermal adaptation in fungi. Higher temperatures were highly correlated with a shift to filamentous growth among the progeny in both crosses. We show that thermal adaptation has a complex genetic architecture, with natural populations of Z. tritici harboring significant genetic variation for this trait. We conclude that Z. tritici populations have the potential to adapt rapidly to climate change and expand into new climatic zones.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Talaromyces marneffei; Boyce and Andrianopoulos, 2013), a change in temperature triggers a switch in growth morphology (Gauthier, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

QTL mapping of temperature sensitivity reveals candidate genes for thermal adaptation and growth morphology in the plant pathogenic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici

et al. 2016

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“…Examples include Taphrina deformans, a common phytopathogen responsible for peach leaf curl, and Ustilago maydis, which is associated with corn smut disease. Once reaching the plant surface, both U. maydis and T. deformans switch from budding yeast to filamentous growth (21). The phenomenon is induced by mating in U. maydis, although not in T. deformans (39,40).…”

Section: Plant Pathogenic Dimorphic Fungimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following uptake by alveolar macrophages, a large number of fungal transcripts appear that promote adaptation to the new restrictive environment (21). These transcripts induce hyphae to yeast dimorphic transition, cell wall rearrangement, sporulation, and the expression of other possible virulence-effecting genes that alter metabolic pathways.…”

Section: Molecular Mechanisms Of Switching Between Yeast and Hyphal Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Six Key Traits of Fungi: Their Evolutionary Origins and Genetic Bases

et al. 2017

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The fungal lineage is one of the three large eukaryotic lineages that dominate terrestrial ecosystems. They share a common ancestor with animals in the eukaryotic supergroup Opisthokonta and have a deeper common ancestry with plants, yet several phenotypes, such as morphological, physiological, or nutritional traits, make them unique among all living organisms. This article provides an overview of some of the most important fungal traits, how they evolve, and what major genes and gene families contribute to their development. The traits highlighted here represent just a sample of the characteristics that have evolved in fungi, including polarized multicellular growth, fruiting body development, dimorphism, secondary metabolism, wood decay, and mycorrhizae. However, a great number of other important traits also underlie the evolution of the taxonomically and phenotypically hyperdiverse fungal kingdom, which could fill up a volume on its own. After reviewing the evolution of these six well-studied traits in fungi, we discuss how the recurrent evolution of phenotypic similarity, that is, convergent evolution in the broad sense, has shaped their phylogenetic distribution in extant species.

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“…The yeast‐to‐hypha transition is critical for the pathogenesis and life cycle of dimorphic fungi (Wanchoo et al ., 2009; Boyce and Adrianopoulos, 2015; Gauthier, 2015; Marcos et al ., 2016). Although signalling pathways related to dimorphic transition are well characterized in the model yeast Candida albicans , the mechanisms are not well defined (Noble et al ., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A transcription factor, MrMsn2, in the dimorphic fungus Metarhizium rileyi is essential for dimorphism transition, aggravated pigmentation, conidiation and microsclerotia formation

Song

Yang

Xin

et al. 2018

Microbial Biotechnology

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SummaryMicrosclerotia (MS) are pseudoparenchymatous aggregations of hyphae of fungi that can be induced in liquid culture for biocontrol applications. Previously, we determined that the high‐osmolarity glycerol (HOG) signalling pathway was involved in regulating MS development in the dimorphic insect pathogen Metarhizium rileyi. To further investigate the mechanisms by which the signalling pathway is regulated, we characterized the transcriptional factor MrMsn2, a homologue of the yeast C2H2 transcriptional factor Msn2, which is predicted to function downstream of the HOG pathway in M. rileyi. Compared with wild‐type and complemented strains, disruption of MrMsn2 increased the yeast‐to‐hypha transition rate, enhanced conidiation capacity and aggravated pigmentation in M. rileyi. The ▵MrMsn2 mutants were sensitive to stress, produced morphologically abnormal clones and had significantly reduced MS formation and decreased virulence levels. Digital expression profiling revealed that genes involved in antioxidation, pigment biosynthesis and ion transport and storage were regulated by MrMsn2 during conidia and MS development. Taken together, our findings confirm that MrMsn2 controlled the yeast‐to‐hypha transition, conidia and MS formation, and virulence.

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Dimorphism in Fungal Pathogens of Mammals, Plants, and Insects

Cited by 120 publications

References 40 publications

QTL mapping of temperature sensitivity reveals candidate genes for thermal adaptation and growth morphology in the plant pathogenic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici

QTL mapping of temperature sensitivity reveals candidate genes for thermal adaptation and growth morphology in the plant pathogenic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici

Six Key Traits of Fungi: Their Evolutionary Origins and Genetic Bases

A transcription factor, MrMsn2, in the dimorphic fungus Metarhizium rileyi is essential for dimorphism transition, aggravated pigmentation, conidiation and microsclerotia formation

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