Geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase genes in entomopathogenic fungi

Abstract

Based on comparative amino-acid sequence alignment of geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) synthase from filamentous fungi, degenerated oligonucleotide primers were designed for searching GGPP synthase gene(s) in entomopathogenic fungi. Polymerase chain reaction with the designed primers amplified GGPP synthase homologues from five representative entomopathogenic fungi: Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana, Verticillium lecanii, Paecilomyces farinosus, and Nomuraea rileyi. Sequence comparison of the amplified of GGPP synthase homologue fragments revealed that M. anisopliae and B. bassiana have at least two different types of the GGPP synthase gene homologues. The first type (designated as ggs1), which is highly conserved among the five strains, has a unique Ser-rich region, SSXSSVSGSSS (X refers to L, A, V, or S), and is constitutively expressed throughout growth. In contrast, the second type of GGPP synthase gene homologue (ggs2) was discovered only in some strains, and genes of this type possessed high similarity to each other but showed relatively weak similarity to the ggs1 genes, with no detectable transcription under the cultivation conditions applied in this experiment. The ggs1 cloned from M. anisopliae, which encoded a putative protein of 359 amino acid residues, was heterologously expressed in E. coli. The recombinant protein showed activity to synthesize GGPP from farnesyl diphosphate and isopentenyl diphosphate. These results strongly suggested that the ggs1 gene encodes a GGPP synthase involved in primary metabolism.

Secondary metabolites from entomopathogenic Hypocrealean fungi

“…PCR with degenerate oligonucleotide primers designed against conserved regions in geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) synthases has been applied to the study of terpenoid biosynthesis in HEF to reveal the presence of two types of GGPP synthases, similar to those occurring in some other fungi. 334 The ggs1-type synthases were present in all 17 strains tested, and featured a serine-rich motif that seems to be unique to GGPP synthases of HEF, in spite of the otherwise strong overall sequence similarity to GGPP synthases from other fungi. A representative ggs1-type GGPP synthase from M. anisopliae was constitutively expressed from early to late phases of growth in liquid media, suggesting that this enzyme is involved in primary metabolic processes, 334 similar to GGS1 from Fusarium (Gibberella) fujikuroi and Pe.…”

“…334 The ggs1-type synthases were present in all 17 strains tested, and featured a serine-rich motif that seems to be unique to GGPP synthases of HEF, in spite of the otherwise strong overall sequence similarity to GGPP synthases from other fungi. A representative ggs1-type GGPP synthase from M. anisopliae was constitutively expressed from early to late phases of growth in liquid media, suggesting that this enzyme is involved in primary metabolic processes, 334 similar to GGS1 from Fusarium (Gibberella) fujikuroi and Pe. paxilli.…”

Characterization of the Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate Synthase Gene in Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Its Association With Carotenoid Biosynthesis

“…However, GGPPS11 (At4g36810) is widely expressed in photosynthetic tissues to provide GGPP for the biosynthesis of chlorophylls, carotenoids, or plastoquinones, which are vital for photosynthesis in A. thaliana (Okada et al, 2000; Beck et al, 2013; Coman et al, 2014). Two types of GGPPS (the first type is encoded GGPP for primary metabolism and the second one is responsible for secondary metabolism) have been isolated in Gibberella fujikuroi (Bettina, 2005; Singkaravanit et al, 2010). Only one GGPPS is found in most insects, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Lai et al, 1998), bumblebee, Bombus terrestris (Prchalová et al, 2016), spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Barbar et al, 2013), and cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii (Zhang and Li, 2014).…”

Snailicidal, antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities of Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae and Paecilomyces lilacinus fungal extracts

“…Fungi are recognized as prolific producers of secondary metabolites which have high therapeutic value as antibiotics, cytotoxic substances, insecticides, compounds that promote or inhibit growth, attractors and repellents, besides their biotechnological applications (Demain, 1999;Kishore et al, 2007;Mabrouk et al, 2008;Abdel-Aziz et al, 2018). Entomopathogenic fungi are classified as fungi that infect, invade and eventually kill their insects (Singkaravanit et al, 2010). Some entomopathogenic isolates such as Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana have been investigated for use against a broad range of insect pests (Sheng, 2007;Ezz et al, 2008), they are environmentally friendly and not harmful to the public health, hence they have been developed and commercialized for pest control (Francardi et al, 2015).…”