Reactive oxygen species

Strigolactones are a structurally diverse class of plant hormones that control many aspects of shoot and root growth. Strigolactones are also exuded by plants into the rhizosphere, where they promote symbiotic interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and germination of root parasitic plants in the Orobanchaceae family. Therefore, understanding how strigolactones are made, transported, and perceived may lead to agricultural innovations as well as a deeper knowledge of how plants function. Substantial progress has been made in these areas over the past decade. In this review, we focus on the molecular mechanisms, core developmental roles, and evolutionary history of strigolactone signaling. We also propose potential translational applications of strigolactone research to agriculture.

Strigolactone Signaling and Evolution.

Microbial oils, which are mainly extracted from yeasts, molds, and algae, have been of considerable interest as food additives and biofuel resources due to their high lipid content. While these oleaginous microorganisms generally produce only small amounts of lipids under optimal growth conditions, their lipid accumulation machinery can be induced by environmental stresses, such as nutrient limitation and an inhospitable physical environmental. As common second messengers of many stress factors, reactive oxygen species (ROS) may act as a regulator of cellular responses to extracellular environmental signaling. Furthermore, increasing evidence indicates that ROS may act as a mediator of lipid accumulation, which is associated with dramatic changes in the transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome. However, the specific mechanisms of ROS involvement in the crosstalk between extracellular stress signaling and intracellular lipid synthesis require further investigation. Here, we summarize current knowledge on stress-induced lipid biosynthesis and the putative role of ROS in the control of lipid accumulation in oleaginous microorganisms. Understanding such links may provide guidance for the development of stress-based strategies to enhance microbial lipid production.

/pdf/reactive-oxygen-species-mediated-cellular-stress-response-28ixjjr3dw.pdf

Reactive Oxygen Species-Mediated Cellular Stress Response and Lipid Accumulation in Oleaginous Microorganisms: The State of the Art and Future Perspectives.

Strigolactones in Plant Interactions with Beneficial and Detrimental Organisms: The Yin and Yang

/pdf/pathogenic-mechanisms-and-control-strategies-of-botrytis-36sj3uhdrc.pdf

Pathogenic mechanisms and control strategies of Botrytis cinerea causing post-harvest decay in fruits and vegetables

Reactive oxygen species in development and infection processes.

Summary
NADPH oxidases (Nox) are major enzymatic producer of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In fungi these multi-enzyme complexes are involved in sexual differentiation and pathogenicity. However, in contrast to mammalian systems, the composition and recruitment of the fungal Nox complexes are unresolved. Here we introduce a new Nox component, the membrane protein NoxD in the grey mold fungus Botrytis cinerea. It has high homology to the ER protein Pro41 from Sordaria macrospora, similar functions to the catalytic Nox subunit BcNoxA in differentiation and pathogenicity, and shows similarities to phagocytic p22phox. BcNoxA and BcNoxD interact with each other. Both proteins are involved in pathogenicity, fusion of conidial anastomosis tubes (CAT) and formation of sclerotia and conidia. These data support our earlier view based on localization studies, for an ER-related function of the Nox complex. We present the first evidence that some functions of the BcNoxA complex are indeed linked to the ER, while others clearly require export from the ER.

BcNoxD, a putative ER protein, is a new component of the NADPH oxidase complex in Botrytis cinerea.

Summary
NADPH oxidases (Nox) produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in multicellular eukaryotic organisms. They trigger defense reactions (‘oxidative burst’) – in phagocytes and plant cells –, and are involved in a broad range of differentiation processes. Fungal Nox-complexes play a central role in vegetative, sexual and pathogenic processes. In contrast to mammalian systems, knowledge is limited about composition, localisation and connection to major signaling cascades in fungi. Here, we characterize a fungal homolog of the RasGAP scaffold protein IQGAP, which links several major signaling processes, including Nox in mammalian cell lines. We show that BcIqg1 interacts directly with a cytosolic, regulatory component (BcRac) and a membrane-associated subunit (BcNoxD) of a Nox-complex in the pathogen Botrytis cinerea. Thus, this protein may be a scaffold that mediates interaction of the catalytic subunits with the regulator BcNoxR. The protein interacts with modules of the MAP kinase- and calcium-dependent signaling pathways. Functional analysis of BcIqg1 substantiated its involvement in different signaling pathways. It mediates the Ca2+-triggered nuclear translocation of − BcCRZ1 and the MAP kinase BcBmp1. BcIqg1 is involved in resistance against oxidative and membrane stress and is required for several developmental processes including formation of sclerotia, conidial anastomosis tubes and infection cushions as well as for virulence.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mmi.13391

BcIqg1, a fungal IQGAP homolog, interacts with NADPH oxidase, MAP kinase and calcium signaling proteins and regulates virulence and development in Botrytis cinerea.

Strigolactones (SLs) as components of root exudates induce hyphal branching of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi which is thought to favor the establishment of the beneficial symbiosis. Little is known on how AM fungi respond to SLs. Since AM fungi are poor model systems due to their obligate biotrophism and the lack of genetic transformation protocols, we took advantage of the sensitivity of several phytopathogenic fungi to GR24, a synthetic SLs analog. With the aim to identify the molecular determinants involved in SLs response in AM fungi and assuming conserved mechanisms in the fungal kingdom, we exploited the fungal pathogens Botrytis cinerea and Cryphonectria parasitica, for which mutant collections are available. Exposure of B. cinerea and C. parasitica to GR24 embedded in solid medium led to reduction of fungal radial growth. We set up the screening of a set of well-characterized gene deletion mutants to isolate genotypes with altered responses to SLs. Two B. cinerea mutants (defective of BcTrr1, a thioredoxin reductase and BcLTF1, a GATA transcription factor) turned out to be less responsive to GR24. One feature shared by the two mutants is the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Indeed, an oxidizing effect was observed in a B. cinerea strain expressing a redox-sensitive GFP2 in the mitochondrial intermembrane space upon exposure to GR24. ROS and mitochondria are, therefore, emerging as mediators of SLs actions.

Identification of genes involved in fungal responses to strigolactones using mutants from fungal pathogens

The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a balanced redox homeostasis are essential parameters, which control the infection process of the plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea. The necrotrophic fungus is able to cope with the plants’ oxidative burst and even produces its own ROS to overcome the plants’ defense barrier. Major enzyme complexes, which are responsible for the production of superoxide, are NADPH oxidase (Nox) complexes. They play a central role in various growth, differentiation and pathogenic processes. However, information about their regulation and the integration in the complex signaling network of filamentous fungi is still scarce. In this work, we give an update on Nox structure, function, site of action and regulation. We show that functionality of the catalytic Nox-subunits seems to be independent from their transcriptional regulation and that the membrane orientation of BcNoxA would allow electron transport inside the ER. Following previous studies, which provided evidence for distinct functions of the NoxA complex inside the ER, we highlight in this work that the N-terminus of BcNoxA is essential for these functions. Finally, we elucidate the role of BcNoxD and BcNoxB inside the ER by complementing the deletion mutants with ER bound alleles. This study provides a deeper analysis of the Nox complexes in B. cinerea. Besides new insights in the overall regulation of the complexes, we provide further evidence that the NoxA complex has a predominant role inside the ER, while the NoxB complex is mainly important outside the ER, likely at the plasma membrane. By considering all other putative Nox complex members, we propose a putative model, which describes the distinct complex pattern upon certain differentiation processes.

/pdf/update-on-nox-function-site-of-action-and-regulation-in-918bpyccu9.pdf

Robert Marschall

Papers

Reactive oxygen species in development and infection processes.

BcNoxD, a putative ER protein, is a new component of the NADPH oxidase complex in Botrytis cinerea.

BcIqg1, a fungal IQGAP homolog, interacts with NADPH oxidase, MAP kinase and calcium signaling proteins and regulates virulence and development in Botrytis cinerea.

Identification of genes involved in fungal responses to strigolactones using mutants from fungal pathogens

Update on Nox function, site of action and regulation in Botrytis cinerea