A PR-1-like Protein of Fusarium oxysporum Functions in Virulence on Mammalian Hosts

• Published in: The Journal of biological chemistry Vol. 287; no. 26; pp. 21970 - 21979
• Main Authors: Prados-Rosales, Rafael C., Roldán-Rodríguez, Raquel, Serena, Carolina, López-Berges, Manuel S., Guarro, Josep, Martínez-del-Pozo, Álvaro, Di Pietro, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 22.06.2012; American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Subjects: Animals; Catalytic Domain; Cloning, Molecular; Escherichia coli - metabolism; Fungal Proteins - chemistry; Fungal Proteins - metabolism; Fungi; Fusarium; Fusarium - metabolism; Glucose - metabolism; Infectious Diseases; MAP Kinase Signaling System; Mice; Microbiology; Models, Genetic; Nucleic Acids - chemistry; Pathogen-associated Molecular Pattern (PAMP); Pathogenesis; Phylogeny; Pichia - metabolism; Plant Pathogen; Plants - microbiology; Plasmids - metabolism; PR-1 Protein; Recombinant Proteins - chemistry; Signal Transduction; Signaling; Virulence; Virulence Factors; Virulence Factors - chemistry; Virulence Factors - metabolism; Fungi; Signaling; Plant Pathogen; PR-1 Protein; Pathogenesis; Pathogen-associated Molecular Pattern (PAMP); Fusarium; Infectious Diseases; Virulence Factors
• ISSN: 0021-9258; 1083-351X
• DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M112.364034

The pathogenesis-related PR-1-like protein family comprises secreted proteins from the animal, plant, and fungal kingdoms whose biological function remains poorly understood. Here we have characterized a PR-1-like protein, Fpr1, from Fusarium oxysporum, an ubiquitous fungal pathogen that causes vascular wilt disease on a wide range of plant species and can produce life-threatening infections in immunocompromised humans. Fpr1 is secreted and proteolytically processed by the fungus. The fpr1 gene is required for virulence in a disseminated immunodepressed mouse model, and its function depends on the integrity of the proposed active site of PR-1-like proteins. Fpr1 belongs to a gene family that has expanded in plant pathogenic Sordariomycetes. These results suggest that secreted PR-1-like proteins play important roles in fungal pathogenicity. Pathogenesis-related (PR-1-like) proteins are widely conserved in eukaryotes, but their biological function is unknown. Knockout or site-directed mutagenesis of fpr1 encoding a secreted PR-1-like protein in the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum impairs virulence on mice. Secreted PR-1-like proteins are important for fungal infection of mammals. We show the first genetic evidence for a biological function of the predicted active site of PR-1-like proteins.