Xue Chaoyang, Tada Yasuomi, Dong Xinnian, Heitman Joseph
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Cell Host Microbe. 2007 Jun 14;1(4):263-73. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2007.05.005.
Cryptococcus is a globally distributed human fungal pathogen that primarily afflicts immunocompromised individuals. How and why this human fungal pathogen associates with plants and how this environmental niche influences its life cycle remains a mystery. We established Cryptococcus-Arabidopsis and Cryptococcus-Eucalyptus systems and discovered that Cryptococcus proliferates and mates on plant surfaces. Mating efficiency of C. gattii was markedly enhanced on plants and myo-inositol and indole acetic acid were specific plant products that stimulated mating. On Arabidopsis, dwarfing and chlorosis were observed following infection with a fungal mixture of two opposite mating-type strains, but not with either mating-type alone. This infection process is countered by the plant jasmonate-mediated defense mechanism. These findings reveal that Cryptococcus can parasitically interact with plants to complete its sexual cycle, which may impact an understanding of the origin and evolution of both plant and animal fungal pathogens in nature.
新型隐球菌是一种全球分布的人类真菌病原体，主要感染免疫功能低下的个体。这种人类真菌病原体如何以及为何与植物相关联，以及这种环境生态位如何影响其生命周期仍是一个谜。我们建立了新型隐球菌-拟南芥和新型隐球菌-桉树系统，并发现新型隐球菌在植物表面增殖并交配。加氏新型隐球菌在植物上的交配效率显著提高，肌醇和吲哚乙酸是刺激交配的特定植物产物。在拟南芥上，用两种相反交配型菌株的真菌混合物感染后观察到矮化和黄化现象，但单独用任何一种交配型菌株感染则未观察到。这种感染过程受到植物茉莉酸介导的防御机制的抵抗。这些发现揭示了新型隐球菌可以与植物进行寄生性相互作用以完成其有性周期，这可能会影响对自然界中植物和动物真菌病原体的起源和进化的理解。
