National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
The Provincial Key Lab of Plant Pathology of Hubei Province, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 4;15(1):4748. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49110-6.
Non-self recognition is a fundamental aspect of life, serving as a crucial mechanism for mitigating proliferation of molecular parasites within fungal populations. However, studies investigating the potential interference of plants with fungal non-self recognition mechanisms are limited. Here, we demonstrate a pronounced increase in the efficiency of horizontal mycovirus transmission between vegetatively incompatible Sclerotinia sclerotiorum strains in planta as compared to in vitro. This increased efficiency is associated with elevated proline concentration in plants following S. sclerotiorum infection. This surge in proline levels attenuates the non-self recognition reaction among fungi by inhibition of cell death, thereby facilitating mycovirus transmission. Furthermore, our field experiments reveal that the combined deployment of hypovirulent S. sclerotiorum strains harboring hypovirulence-associated mycoviruses (HAVs) together with exogenous proline confers substantial protection to oilseed rape plants against virulent S. sclerotiorum. This unprecedented discovery illuminates a novel pathway by which plants can counteract S. sclerotiorum infection, leveraging the weakening of fungal non-self recognition and promotion of HAVs spread. These promising insights provide an avenue to explore for developing innovative biological control strategies aimed at mitigating fungal diseases in plants by enhancing the efficacy of horizontal HAV transmission.
非自我识别是非生命的基本方面，作为减轻真菌群体中分子寄生虫增殖的关键机制。然而，研究调查植物与真菌非自我识别机制的潜在干扰是有限的。在这里，我们证明了在植物体内，与体外相比，营养体不相容的核盘菌菌株之间水平蕈病毒传播的效率明显提高。这种效率的提高与真菌感染后植物中脯氨酸浓度的升高有关。这种脯氨酸水平的激增通过抑制细胞死亡来减轻真菌之间的非自我识别反应，从而促进蕈病毒的传播。此外，我们的田间实验表明，同时使用携带与弱毒相关蕈病毒（HAV）的弱毒核盘菌菌株和外源脯氨酸，可以为油菜植物提供对强毒核盘菌的显著保护。这一前所未有的发现揭示了一种新的途径，植物可以通过削弱真菌的非自我识别和促进 HAV 的传播来对抗核盘菌的感染。这些有希望的见解为探索通过增强水平 HAV 传播的有效性来开发创新的生物防治策略提供了一个途径，以减轻植物中的真菌病害。
