State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
The Provincial Key Lab of Plant Pathology of Hubei Province, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
Environ Microbiol. 2021 Sep;23(9):4939-4955. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.15399. Epub 2021 Jun 29.
Fusarium graminearum is an important worldwide pathogen that causes Fusarium head blight in wheat, barley, maize and other grains. LncRNAs play important roles in many biological processes, but little is known about their functions and mechanisms in filamentous fungi. Here, we report that a natural antisense RNA, GzmetE-AS, is transcribed from the opposite strand of GzmetE. GzmetE encodes a homoserine O-acetyltransferase, which is important for sexual development and plant infection. The expression of GzmetE-AS was increased significantly during the conidiation stage, while GzmetE was upregulated in the late stage of sexual reproduction. Overexpression of GzmetE-AS inhibited the transcription of GzmetE. In contrast, the expression of GzmetE was significantly increased in GzmetE-AS transcription termination strain GzmetE-AS-T. Furthermore, GzmetE-AS-T produced more perithecia and facilitated the ascospore discharge, resembling the phenotype of GzmetE overexpressing strains. However, overexpression of GzmetE-AS in ∆dcl1/2 strain cannot inhibit the expression of GzmetE, and the GzmetE nat-siRNA is also significantly reduced in ∆dcl1/2 mutant. Taken together, we have identified a novel antisense lncRNA GzmetE-AS, which is involved in asexual and sexual reproduction by regulating its antisense gene GzmetE through RNAi pathway. Our findings reveal that the lncRNA plays critical roles in the development of F. graminearum.
禾谷镰刀菌是一种重要的世界性病原菌，可引起小麦、大麦、玉米和其他谷物的镰孢穗枯病。lncRNAs 在许多生物学过程中发挥着重要作用，但它们在丝状真菌中的功能和机制知之甚少。在这里，我们报告了一个天然的反义 RNA，GzmetE-AS，它是从 GzmetE 的相反链转录而来的。GzmetE 编码一个高丝氨酸 O-乙酰转移酶，它对有性发育和植物感染很重要。GzmetE-AS 的表达在分生孢子形成阶段显著增加，而 GzmetE 在有性繁殖的后期上调。GzmetE-AS 的过表达抑制了 GzmetE 的转录。相比之下，在 GzmetE-AS 转录终止株 GzmetE-AS-T 中，GzmetE 的表达显著增加。此外，GzmetE-AS-T 产生了更多的子囊壳，并促进了游动孢子的排放，类似于 GzmetE 过表达菌株的表型。然而，在 ∆dcl1/2 菌株中过表达 GzmetE-AS 不能抑制 GzmetE 的表达，并且在 ∆dcl1/2 突变体中 GzmetE 天然 siRNA 的表达也显著降低。总之，我们鉴定了一个新的反义 lncRNA GzmetE-AS，它通过 RNAi 途径调节其反义基因 GzmetE，参与无性和有性生殖。我们的研究结果表明，lncRNA 在禾谷镰刀菌的发育中起着关键作用。
