Metabolic and stress adaptation by Mycosphaerella graminicola during sporulation in its host revealed through microarray transcription profiling

• Published in: Molecular plant pathology Vol. 6; no. 5; pp. 527 - 540
• Main Authors: Keon, J, Rudd, J.J, Antoniw, J, Skinner, W, Hargreaves, J, Hammond-Kosack, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.09.2005; Blackwell
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; complementary DNA; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungal plant pathogens; fungal proteins; fungal spores; gene expression regulation; host-pathogen relationships; microarray technology; molecular sequence data; Mycosphaerella graminicola; nucleotide sequences; Pathology, epidemiology, host-fungus relationships. Damages, economic importance; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; plant pathogenic fungi; sporulation; transcription (genetics); transcriptome; transcriptomics; Infection modality; Monocotyledones; Plant pathogen; Transcription; DNA chip; Host agent relation; Metabolism; Cereal crop; Stress; Fungi; Mycosphaerella graminicola; Gramineae; Sporulation; Angiospermae; Ascomycetes; Spermatophyta; Triticum aestivum; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 1464-6722; 1364-3703
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1364-3703.2005.00304.x

SUMMARY Pathogenic microbes must successfully adapt to the host environment, acquiring nutrients and tolerating immune/defence responses. Studies on host–pathogen interactions at the transcriptome level have predominantly investigated host responses. Here we present a broad‐scale transcriptional analysis on a fungal pathogen during sporulation within its host environment. Septoria leaf blotch is an important fungal disease of cultivated wheat and is caused by the ascomycete fungus Septoria tritici (teleomorph Mycosphaerella graminicola). A cDNA microarray containing 2563 unigenes was generated and then used to compare fungal nutrition and development in vitro under nutrient‐rich and nutrient‐limiting conditions and in vivo at a late stage of plant infection. The data obtained provided clear insights into metabolic adaptation in all three conditions and an elevated stress adaptation/tolerance specifically in the host environment. We conclude that asexual sporulation of M. graminicola during the late stage of plant infection occurs in a rich nutritional environment involving adaptation to stresses imposed in part by the presence of reactive oxygen species.