Open AccessGrowth modulation and metabolic responses of Ganoderma boninense to salicylic acid stress
Author(s) -
Cu Ean Ong,
Rozilawati Ahmad,
You Keng Goh,
Kamalrul Azlan Azizan,
Syarul Nataqain Baharum,
K. J. Goh
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0262029
Subject(s) - salicylic acid , biology , metabolomics , metabolite , stem rot , phenylalanine , food science , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , amino acid , bioinformatics
Various phenolic compounds have been screened against Ganoderma boninense , the fungal pathogen causing basal stem rot in oil palms. In this study, we focused on the effects of salicylic acid (SA) on the growth of three G . boninense isolates with different levels of aggressiveness. In addition, study on untargeted metabolite profiling was conducted to investigate the metabolomic responses of G . boninense towards salicylic acid. The inhibitory effects of salicylic acid were both concentration- ( P < 0 . 001 ) and isolate-dependent ( P < 0 . 001 ). Also, growth-promoting effect was observed in one of the isolates at low concentrations of salicylic acid where it could have been utilized by G . boninense as a source of carbon and energy. Besides, adaptation towards salicylic acid treatment was evident in this study for all isolates, particularly at high concentrations. In other words, inhibitory effect of salicylic acid treatment on the fungal growth declined over time. In terms of metabolomics response to salicylic acid treatment, G . boninense produced several metabolites such as coumarin and azatyrosine, which suggests that salicylic acid modulates the developmental switch in G . boninense towards the defense mode for its survival. Furthermore, the liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS) analysis showed that the growth of G . boninense on potato dextrose agar involved at least four metabolic pathways: amino acid metabolism, lipid pathway, tryptophan pathway and phenylalanine pathway. Overall, there were 17 metabolites that contributed to treatment separation, each with P<0 . 005 . The release of several antimicrobial metabolites such as eudistomin I may enhance G . boninense ’s competitiveness against other microorganisms during colonisation. Our findings demonstrated the metabolic versatility of G . boninense towards changes in carbon sources and stress factors. G . boninense was shown to be capable of responding to salicylic acid treatment by switching its developmental stage.