The Methyltransferase AflSet1 Is Involved in Fungal Morphogenesis, AFB1 Biosynthesis, and Virulence of Aspergillus flavus

Liu, Yaju; Zhang, Mengjuan; Xie, Rui; Zhang, Feng; Wang, Sen; Pan, Xiaohua; Wang, Shihua; Zhang, Zhuang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.00234

Cited by 26 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The construction of mcherry-cti6 strain was according to previously described protocol (Liu et al, 2020). The fungal spores (10 4 ) were inoculated in YES liquid medium at 37 o C for 12 h. Collected mycelium was rinsed with PBS, then, was observed after staining with DAPI for 10 min by laser confocal scanning microscope (LeicaSP8).…”

Section: Subcellular Localizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The PHD Transcription Factor Cti6 is Involved in the Fungal Colonization and Aflatioxin B1 Biological Synthesis of Aspergillus Flavus

Zhang

Lin

Pan

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aspergillus flavus and its main secondary metabolite AFB1 pose a serious threat to several important crops worldwide. Recently, it has been reported that some PHD family transcription factors are involved in the morphogenesis and AFB1 biological synthesis in A. flavus, but the role of Cti6, a PHD domain containing protein in A. flavus, is totally unknown. The study was designed to reveal the biological function of Cti6 in the fungus by deletion of cti6, and its two domains (PHD and Atrophin-1) through homologous recombination, respectively. The results showed that Cti6 might up-regulate the mycelium growth, conidiation, sclerotia formation and AFB1 biological synthesis of A. flavus by its PHD domain, while Atrophin-1 also improved the conidiation of the fungus. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that Cti6 increased the conidiation of the fungus through AbaA and BrlA mediated conidiation pathway, triggered the formation of sclerotia by orthodox sclerotia formation pathway, and improved the production of AFB1 by orthodox AFB1 synthesis pathway. Crops models analysis showed that A. flavus Cti6 plays vital role in colonization and the production of AFB1 on the host grains mainly via PHD domain. Bioinformatics analysis showed Cti6 is conservative in Aspergillus spp., and mCherry mediated subcellular localization showed that most Cti6 accumulated in the nuclei, which reflected that Cti6 performed its important biological function in the nuclei in Aspergillus spp.. The results of the current study elucidate the roles of PHD domain containing proteins in the mechanism of the infection of crops by A. flavus, and provided a novel target for effectively controlling the contamination of Aspergillus spp. to crops.

show abstract

Section: Subcellular Localizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The PHD Transcription Factor Cti6 is Involved in the Fungal Colonization and Aflatioxin B1 Biological Synthesis of Aspergillus Flavus

Zhang

Lin

Pan

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As examples, DNA methylation may inhibit transcription elongation in Neurospora crassa (Zemach et al ., 2010) and Magnaporthe oryzae (Jeon et al ., 2015). SET1/KMT2 required for H3K4me2/me3 and also involved in H3K36me2 has been shown to regulate hyphal growth, conidiation, sclerotia formation, biosynthesis of aflatoxin B1 and virulence in Aspergillus flavus (Liu et al ., 2020). Deletion of set1 in Fusarium verticillioides led to retarded growth, reduced virulence, blocked biosynthesis of fumonisin B1 and repressed expression of phenotype‐related genes (Gu et al ., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SET1/KMT2‐governed histone H3K4 methylation coordinates the lifecycle in vivo and in vitro of the fungal insect pathogen Beauveria bassiana

Ren

Mou

Tong

et al. 2021

Environmental Microbiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biological control potential of insect-pathogenic fungi against pests is an overall output of various cellular processes regulated by signalling and epigenetic networks. In Beauveria bassiana, mono/di/ trimethylation of histone H3 Lys 4 (H3K4me1/me2/ m3) was abolished by inactivation of the histone lysine methyltransferase SET1/KMT2, leading to marked virulence loss, reductions in conidial hydrophobicity and adherence to insect cuticle, impeded proliferation in vivo, severe defects in growth and conidiation, and increased sensitivities to cell wall perturbation, H 2 O 2 and heat shock. Such compromised phenotypes correlated well with transcriptional abolishment or repression of carbon catabolite-repressing transcription factor Cre1, classes I and II hydrophobins Hyd1 and Hyd2 required for cell hydrophobicity, key developmental regulators, and stress-responsive enzymes/proteins. Particularly, expression of cre1, which upregulates hyd4 upon activation by KMT2-mediated H3K4me3 in Metarhizium robertsii, was nearly abolished in the Δset1 mutant, leading to abolished expression of hyd1 and hyd2 as homologues of hyd4. These data suggest that the SET1-Cre1-Hyd1/2 pathway function in B. bassiana like the KMT2-Cre1-Hyd4 pathway elucidated to mediate pathogenicity in M. robertsii. Our findings unveil not only a regulatory role for the SET1-cored pathway in fungal virulence but also its novel role in mediating asexual cycle in vitro and stress responses in B. bassiana.

show abstract

“…The deletion of aflrmtA also decreased expression levels of the AFB 1 biosynthesis regulatory gene aflR and AFB 1 biosynthesis genes aflK and aflC [ 72 ]. In recent studies conducted by our research group [ 73 , 74 , 75 ], we demonstrated that both the histone and DNA methyltransferases play a significant role in aflatoxin biosynthesis in A. flavus . In particular, the deletion of the dmtA gene increase sclerotial production but decrease both conidiation and aflatoxin biosynthesis [ 73 ].…”

Section: Post Translation Modifications Influencing Development and Aflatoxin Biosynthesis In A Flavusmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…In particular, the deletion of the dmtA gene increase sclerotial production but decrease both conidiation and aflatoxin biosynthesis [ 73 ]. In separate studies, we investigated the biological role of the histone methyltransferase Aflset1 [ 74 ] and histone methyltransferase dot1 [ 75 ]. It was found that Aflset1 is involved in the regulation of virulence, fungal morphogenesis, and AFB 1 biosynthesis in A. flavus for the former and the regulation of pathogenicity and aflatoxin attributes for the latter.…”

Section: Post Translation Modifications Influencing Development and Aflatoxin Biosynthesis In A Flavusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Updates on the Functions and Molecular Mechanisms of the Genes Involved in Aspergillus flavus Development and Biosynthesis of Aflatoxins

Tumukunde

Xie

Wang

2021

JoF

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) is a ubiquitous and opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes invasive and non-invasive aspergillosis in humans and animals. This fungus is also capable of infecting a large number of agriculture crops (e.g., peanuts, maze, cotton seeds, rice, etc.), causing economic losses and posing serious food-safety concerns when these crops are contaminated with aflatoxins, the most potent naturally occurring carcinogens. In particular, A. flavus and aflatoxins are intensely studied, and they continue to receive considerable attention due to their detrimental effects on humans, animals, and crops. Although several studies have been published focusing on the biosynthesis of the aforementioned secondary metabolites, some of the molecular mechanisms (e.g., posttranslational modifications, transcription factors, transcriptome, proteomics, metabolomics and transcriptome, etc.) involved in the fungal development and aflatoxin biosynthesis in A. flavus are still not fully understood. In this study, a review of the recently published studies on the function of the genes and the molecular mechanisms involved in development of A. flavus and the production of its secondary metabolites is presented. It is hoped that the information provided in this review will help readers to develop effective strategies to reduce A. flavus infection and aflatoxin production.

show abstract

The Methyltransferase AflSet1 Is Involved in Fungal Morphogenesis, AFB1 Biosynthesis, and Virulence of Aspergillus flavus

Cited by 26 publications

References 47 publications

The PHD Transcription Factor Cti6 is Involved in the Fungal Colonization and Aflatioxin B1 Biological Synthesis of Aspergillus Flavus

The PHD Transcription Factor Cti6 is Involved in the Fungal Colonization and Aflatioxin B1 Biological Synthesis of Aspergillus Flavus

SET1/KMT2‐governed histone H3K4 methylation coordinates the lifecycle in vivo and in vitro of the fungal insect pathogen Beauveria bassiana

Updates on the Functions and Molecular Mechanisms of the Genes Involved in Aspergillus flavus Development and Biosynthesis of Aflatoxins

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About