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SET1 / KMT2 ‐governed histone H3K4 methylation coordinates the lifecycle in vivo and in vitro of the fungal insect pathogen Beauveria bassiana
Author(s) -
Ren Kang,
Mou YaNi,
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 - 10.1111/1462-2920.15701
Subject(s) - conidiation , biology , beauveria bassiana , microbiology and biotechnology , h3k4me3 , virulence , gene expression , gene , biochemistry , botany , promoter , biological pest control
Summary Biological control potential of insect‐pathogenic fungi against pests is an overall output of various cellular processes regulated by signalling and epigenetic networks. In Beauveria bassiana , mono/di/trimethylation of histone H3 Lys 4 (H3K4me1/me2/m3) was abolished by inactivation of the histone lysine methyltransferase SET1/KMT2, leading to marked virulence loss, reductions in conidial hydrophobicity and adherence to insect cuticle, impeded proliferation in vivo , severe defects in growth and conidiation, and increased sensitivities to cell wall perturbation, H 2 O 2 and heat shock. Such compromised phenotypes correlated well with transcriptional abolishment or repression of carbon catabolite‐repressing transcription factor Cre1, classes I and II hydrophobins Hyd1 and Hyd2 required for cell hydrophobicity, key developmental regulators, and stress‐responsive enzymes/proteins. Particularly, expression of cre1 , which upregulates hyd4 upon activation by KMT2‐mediated H3K4me3 in Metarhizium robertsii , was nearly abolished in the Δ set1 mutant, leading to abolished expression of hyd1 and hyd2 as homologues of hyd4 . These data suggest that the SET1‐Cre1‐Hyd1/2 pathway function in B . bassiana like the KMT2‐Cre1‐Hyd4 pathway elucidated to mediate pathogenicity in M . robertsii . Our findings unveil not only a regulatory role for the SET1‐cored pathway in fungal virulence but also its novel role in mediating asexual cycle in vitro and stress responses in B . bassiana .