Díaz María S, Figueroa Ana C, Alasino Valeria R, Turco Mauricio, Fernández Andrea, Marino Bibiana, Soria Néstor W, Beltramo Dante M
Centro de Excelencia en Productos y Procesos de Córdoba-OCOR-Hospital Colonia Santa María, Punilla, X5164 Santa María de Punilla, Cordoba, Argentina.
CONICET, Buenos Aires 1418, X5000IND Córdoba, Argentina.
J Appl Microbiol. 2023 Jan 23;134(1). doi: 10.1093/jambio/lxac022.
It is known that Thecaphora frezii produces peanut smut that generates numerous economic losses. For this reason, it is a priority to search for control strategies. In this sense, we investigated the lipid profile of this pathogen, as possible antifungal targets, regarding polar lipid composition, fatty acid profile, and transcriptional regulation of genes involved in each stage of the development.
Lipids from T. frezii teliospores, basidiospores, and hyphae were analyzed by HPLC/CAD and CG/FID. We found differences in the unsaturation levels as well as in the long-chain fatty acids along the stages. Phosphatidylcholine was the main component in the three development stages, followed by cardiolipins. Phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine were found in similar amounts in all stages. Although ergosterol was not detected, we found two unsaponifiable lipids. In addition, we found transcripts that encode 28 enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of three lipids by RNA-Seq.
Thecaphora frezii shows changes in the composition of membrane lipids in different ontogenetic stages as well as in the expression of transcripts for enzymes involved in lipid biosynthesis.
