Quorum sensing-mediated inter-specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense
Abstract Many plant pathogenic filamentous fungi undergo fusion of conidia through conidial anastomosis tubes (CATs), which is believed to facilitate horizontal gene transfer between species. We discovered a remarkable inter-specific CAT fusion between two important plant fungal pathogens Colletotri...
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BMC
2021-04-01
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-021-00058-y |
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author | Nikita Mehta Abhishek Baghela |
author_facet | Nikita Mehta Abhishek Baghela |
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description | Abstract Many plant pathogenic filamentous fungi undergo fusion of conidia through conidial anastomosis tubes (CATs), which is believed to facilitate horizontal gene transfer between species. We discovered a remarkable inter-specific CAT fusion between two important plant fungal pathogens Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense. In an invitro assay, under no selection pressure, the inter-specific CAT fusion was preferred with higher frequency (25% ± 5%) than intra-specific CAT fusion (11% ± 3.6%). Different stages of CAT fusion viz. CAT induction, homing, and fusion were observed during this inter-specific CAT fusion. The CAT fusion was found to be higher in absence of nutrients and under physiological stresses. This CAT fusion involved a quorum sensing phenomenon, wherein the CAT induction was dependent on conidial density and the putative quorum sensing molecule was extractable in chloroform. Movement of nuclei, mitochondria, and lipid droplets were observed during the CAT fusion. Post CAT fusion, the resulting conidia gave rise to putative heterokaryotic progenies with variable colony characteristics as compared to their parental strains. Few heterokaryons showed variable AFLP banding pattern compared to their parental strains, thereby suggesting a possible genetic exchange between the two species through CAT fusion. The heterokaryotic progenies exhibited varied fitness under different stress conditions. Our study illustrated a possible role of inter-specific CAT fusion in generation of genetic and phenotypic diversity in these fungal pathogens. |
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institution | Kabale University |
issn | 2210-6359 |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
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series | IMA Fungus |
spelling | doaj-art-88b655a2e6c54e6cb708b6bfd0132eda2025-02-02T16:29:25ZengBMCIMA Fungus2210-63592021-04-0112111710.1186/s43008-021-00058-yQuorum sensing-mediated inter-specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamenseNikita Mehta0Abhishek Baghela1National Fungal Culture Collection of India (NFCCI), Biodiversity and Palaeobiology Group, MACS-Agharkar Research InstituteNational Fungal Culture Collection of India (NFCCI), Biodiversity and Palaeobiology Group, MACS-Agharkar Research InstituteAbstract Many plant pathogenic filamentous fungi undergo fusion of conidia through conidial anastomosis tubes (CATs), which is believed to facilitate horizontal gene transfer between species. We discovered a remarkable inter-specific CAT fusion between two important plant fungal pathogens Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense. In an invitro assay, under no selection pressure, the inter-specific CAT fusion was preferred with higher frequency (25% ± 5%) than intra-specific CAT fusion (11% ± 3.6%). Different stages of CAT fusion viz. CAT induction, homing, and fusion were observed during this inter-specific CAT fusion. The CAT fusion was found to be higher in absence of nutrients and under physiological stresses. This CAT fusion involved a quorum sensing phenomenon, wherein the CAT induction was dependent on conidial density and the putative quorum sensing molecule was extractable in chloroform. Movement of nuclei, mitochondria, and lipid droplets were observed during the CAT fusion. Post CAT fusion, the resulting conidia gave rise to putative heterokaryotic progenies with variable colony characteristics as compared to their parental strains. Few heterokaryons showed variable AFLP banding pattern compared to their parental strains, thereby suggesting a possible genetic exchange between the two species through CAT fusion. The heterokaryotic progenies exhibited varied fitness under different stress conditions. Our study illustrated a possible role of inter-specific CAT fusion in generation of genetic and phenotypic diversity in these fungal pathogens.https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-021-00058-yConidial anastomosis tubeHeterokaryosisQuorum sensingGenetic diversityHybrid vigourColletotrichum |
spellingShingle | Nikita Mehta Abhishek Baghela Quorum sensing-mediated inter-specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense IMA Fungus Conidial anastomosis tube Heterokaryosis Quorum sensing Genetic diversity Hybrid vigour Colletotrichum |
title | Quorum sensing-mediated inter-specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense |
title_full | Quorum sensing-mediated inter-specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense |
title_fullStr | Quorum sensing-mediated inter-specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense |
title_full_unstemmed | Quorum sensing-mediated inter-specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense |
title_short | Quorum sensing-mediated inter-specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. siamense |
title_sort | quorum sensing mediated inter specific conidial anastomosis tube fusion between colletotrichum gloeosporioides and c siamense |
topic | Conidial anastomosis tube Heterokaryosis Quorum sensing Genetic diversity Hybrid vigour Colletotrichum |
url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-021-00058-y |
work_keys_str_mv | AT nikitamehta quorumsensingmediatedinterspecificconidialanastomosistubefusionbetweencolletotrichumgloeosporioidesandcsiamense AT abhishekbaghela quorumsensingmediatedinterspecificconidialanastomosistubefusionbetweencolletotrichumgloeosporioidesandcsiamense |