Journal Article

Secondary metabolite gene clusters in the entomopathogen fungus Metarhizium anisopliae: genome identification and patterns of expression in a cuticle infection model

Junges, Ângela, Schrank, Augusto, Vainstein, Marilene Henning, Sbaraini, Nicolau, Guedes, Rafael Lucas Muniz, Andreis, Fábio Carrer, de Morais, Guilherme Loss, de Vasconcelos, Ana Tereza Ribeiro

2016

Overview

Background The described species from the Metarhizium genus are cosmopolitan fungi that infect arthropod hosts. Interestingly, while some species infect a wide range of hosts (host-generalists), other species infect only a few arthropods (host-specialists). This singular evolutionary trait permits unique comparisons to determine how pathogens and virulence determinants emerge. Among the several virulence determinants that have been described, secondary metabolites (SMs) are suggested to play essential roles during fungal infection. Despite progress in the study of pathogen-host relationships, the majority of genes related to SM production in Metarhizium spp. are uncharacterized, and little is known about their genomic organization, expression and regulation. To better understand how infection conditions may affect SM production in Metarhizium anisopliae , we have performed a deep survey and description of SM biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in M. anisopliae , analyzed RNA-seq data from fungi grown on cattle-tick cuticles, evaluated the differential expression of BGCs, and assessed conservation among the Metarhizium genus. Furthermore, our analysis extended to the construction of a phylogeny for the following three BGCs: a tropolone/citrinin-related compound (MaPKS1), a pseurotin-related compound (MaNRPS-PKS2), and a putative helvolic acid (MaTERP1). Results Among 73 BGCs identified in M. anisopliae , 20 % were up-regulated during initial tick cuticle infection and presumably possess virulence-related roles. These up-regulated BGCs include known clusters, such as destruxin, NG39x and ferricrocin, together with putative helvolic acid and, pseurotin and tropolone/citrinin-related compound clusters as well as uncharacterized clusters. Furthermore, several previously characterized and putative BGCs were silent or down-regulated in initial infection conditions, indicating minor participation over the course of infection. Interestingly, several up-regulated BGCs were not conserved in host-specialist species from the Metarhizium genus, indicating differences in the metabolic strategies employed by generalist and specialist species to overcome and kill their host. These differences in metabolic potential may have been partially shaped by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events, as our phylogenetic analysis provided evidence that the putative helvolic acid cluster in Metarhizium spp. originated from an HGT event. Conclusions Several unknown BGCs are described, and aspects of their organization, regulation and origin are discussed, providing further support for the impact of SM on the Metarhizium genus lifestyle and infection process.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,BMC
• Subject: Animal Genetics and Genomics / Animals / Biological control / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Cattle tick / Evolution, Molecular / Fungi, Pathogenic / Gene Expression Profiling / Gene Expression Regulation / Gene Order / Genetic aspects / Genome, Fungal / Genomics / Genomics - methods / Host-Pathogen Interactions / Infection process / Life Sciences / Metabolites / Metarhizium - classification / Metarhizium - genetics / Metarhizium - metabolism / Metarhizium spp / Microarrays / Microbial Genetics and Genomics / Phylogeny / Physiological aspects / Plant Genetics and Genomics / Proteomics / Quantitative Trait, Heritable / Secondary Metabolism - genetics / Secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters / Ticks - microbiology / Transcriptome / Transcriptome analysis