Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, 603 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
Biomolecules. 2021 Jun 16;11(6):898. doi: 10.3390/biom11060898.
Interactions between plant-associated fungi and their hosts are characterized by a continuous crosstalk of chemical molecules. Specialized metabolites are often produced during these associations and play important roles in the symbiosis between the plant and the fungus, as well as in the establishment of additional interactions between the symbionts and other organisms present in the niche. , a root endophytic fungus from the phylum Basidiomycota, is able to colonize a wide range of plant species, conferring many benefits to its hosts. The genome of possesses only few genes predicted to be involved in specialized metabolite biosynthesis, including a putative terpenoid synthase gene (). In our experimental setup, expression was upregulated when the fungus colonized tomato roots compared to its expression in fungal biomass growing on synthetic medium. Heterologous expression of in showed that the produced protein catalyzes the synthesis of a few sesquiterpenoids, with the alcohol viridiflorol being the main product. To investigate the role of in the plant-endophyte interaction, an -over-expressing mutant line was created and assessed for its ability to colonize tomato roots. Although overexpression of did not lead to improved fungal colonization ability, an in vitro growth-inhibition assay showed that viridiflorol has antifungal properties. Addition of viridiflorol to the culture medium inhibited the germination of spores from a phytopathogenic fungus, indicating that and its products could provide with a competitive advantage over other plant-associated fungi during root colonization.
植物相关真菌与其宿主之间的相互作用以化学分子的持续交流为特征。在这些相互作用过程中，通常会产生特殊代谢物，这些代谢物在植物和真菌之间的共生关系中以及在共生体与生态位中其他存在的生物体之间建立额外相互作用中发挥着重要作用。，一种来自担子菌门的根内生真菌，能够定殖广泛的植物物种，为其宿主带来许多益处。的基因组中只有少数被预测参与特殊代谢物生物合成的基因，包括一个假定的萜烯合酶基因()。在我们的实验设置中，与在合成培养基上生长的真菌生物量相比，当真菌定殖番茄根时，表达上调。在中异源表达，表明产生的蛋白催化几种倍半萜的合成，其中醇绿木醇是主要产物。为了研究在植物 - 内生菌相互作用中的作用，创建了一个过度表达的突变体系，并评估其定殖番茄根的能力。尽管过度表达并没有导致真菌定殖能力的提高，但体外生长抑制试验表明绿木醇具有抗真菌特性。将绿木醇添加到培养基中抑制了一种植物病原菌孢子的萌发，表明和其产物可以为在根定殖期间提供相对于其他与植物相关的真菌的竞争优势。
