Premium
Distinctive role of fluG in the adaptation of Beauveria bassiana to insect‐pathogenic lifecycle and environmental stresses
Author(s) -
Guo ChongTao,
Peng Han,
Tong SenMiao,
Ying ShengHua,
Feng MingGuang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.15500
Subject(s) - conidiation , beauveria bassiana , biology , virulence , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , hypha , psychological repression , secretion , gene expression , genetics , botany , biochemistry , biological pest control
Summary The upstream developmental activation (UDA) pathway comprises three fluG ‐cored cascades ( fluG‐flbA , fluG‐flbE/B/D and fluG‐flbC ) that activate the key gene brlA of central developmental pathway (CDP) to initiate conidiation in aspergilli. However, the core role of fluG remains poorly understood in other fungi. Here, we report distinctive role of fluG in the insect‐pathogenic lifecycle of Beauveria bassiana . Disruption of fluG resulted in limited conidiation defect, which was mitigated with incubation time and associated with time‐course up‐regulation/down‐regulation of all flb and CDP genes and another fluG ‐like gene (BBA_06309). In Δ fluG , increased sensitivities to various stresses correlated with repression of corresponding stress‐responsive genes. Its virulence through normal cuticle infection was attenuated greatly due to blocked secretion of cuticle‐degrading enzymes and delayed formation of hyphal bodies (blastospores) to accelerate proliferation in vivo and host death. In submerged Δ fluG cultures mimicking insect haemolymph, largely increased blastospore production concurred with drastic up‐regulation of the CDP genes brlA and abaA , which was associated with earlier up‐regulation of most flb genes in the cultures. Our results unveil an essentiality of fluG for fungal adaptation to insect‐pathogenic lifecycle and suggest the other fluG ‐like gene to act as an alternative player in the UDA pathway of B . bassiana .