Zhang Jiahua, Wei Lixiang, Zhang Huimei, Ma Xixi, Sun Yansen, Li Ruobing, Zhang Chengzhi, Cai Xuepeng, Qiao Jun, Meng Qingling
College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China.
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, China.
J Vet Res. 2025 Feb 25;69(1):71-82. doi: 10.2478/jvetres-2025-0005. eCollection 2025 Mar.
Nematode-trapping fungi (NTFs) can produce various chitinases to degrade nematode body wall and eggshell chitin during predation. However, the regulatory mechanisms of their expression of chitinases still remain unclear. The primary objective of this study was to elucidate the differential protein profile of , an NTF, in response to chitin.
Colloidal chitin was added to induce the culture of , and the phenotypic differences before and after induction were observed under inverted microscope. The differential proteins before and after mycelium induction were screened by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The differentially expressed chitinase was expressed in yeast, and the recombinant enzyme was incubated with and its egg suspension to explore its biological activity.
It was found that there was a significant acceleration in the mycelial growth post chitin interaction in . A total of 1,124 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified between the control group (AO-c) and the experimental group (AO-e), with 183 upregulated and 941 downregulated. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that the DEPs acted in various metabolic processes with catalysis and binding functions. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis associated these proteins primarily with signalling pathways related to glucose metabolism. Three chitinases were significantly modulated among DEPs. Moreover, enzymatic activity assays demonstrated that one of them effectively degraded and its eggs.
These findings suggest that can significantly alter its protein expression profile in response to chitin, thereby facilitating its sugar metabolism and mycelial development. Our study provided new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of nematode predation in .
捕食线虫真菌（NTFs）在捕食过程中可产生多种几丁质酶来降解线虫体壁和卵壳中的几丁质。然而，其几丁质酶表达的调控机制仍不清楚。本研究的主要目的是阐明一种捕食线虫真菌对几丁质响应的差异蛋白质谱。
添加胶体几丁质诱导该捕食线虫真菌培养，在倒置显微镜下观察诱导前后的表型差异。通过液相色谱-串联质谱筛选菌丝体诱导前后的差异蛋白质。将差异表达的几丁质酶在酵母中表达，并将重组酶与该捕食线虫真菌及其卵悬液孵育以探究其生物活性。
发现该捕食线虫真菌在与几丁质相互作用后菌丝生长显著加速。在对照组（AO-c）和实验组（AO-e）之间共鉴定出1124个差异表达蛋白（DEPs），其中183个上调，941个下调。基因本体分析表明，这些差异表达蛋白参与各种代谢过程，具有催化和结合功能。京都基因与基因组百科全书分析表明，这些蛋白质主要与葡萄糖代谢相关的信号通路有关。在差异表达蛋白中有三种几丁质酶受到显著调控。此外，酶活性测定表明其中一种能有效降解该捕食线虫真菌及其卵。
这些发现表明，该捕食线虫真菌可因应几丁质显著改变其蛋白质表达谱，从而促进其糖代谢和菌丝发育。我们的研究为该捕食线虫真菌中线虫捕食的调控机制提供了新见解。
