Wang Xiaomeng, Xi Juan, Chen Pengxu, Chen Yingying, Chen Keyu, Zheng Weifa, Zhao Yanxia
School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China.
Environ Microbiol Rep. 2025 Aug;17(4):e70147. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.70147.
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are conserved biomolecules that are consistently expressed and upregulated in response to stress. However, whether fungi activate HSPs in response to fungivorous arthropods' attack remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the function of HSP104 and HSP20-L in Aspergillus nidulans upon Sinella curviseta stress. The results revealed that hsp104 and hsp20-L were upregulated upon the stress. Knockout of hsp104 and/or hsp20-L inhibited conidia and cleistothecia formation. Additionally, S. curviseta stress inhibited conidia and cleistothecia formation in the wild-type strain. hsp104 positively regulated conidia formation in response to stress, while hsp20-L negatively regulated it. Notably, hsp104 and hsp20-L exhibited opposing functions on ascospore formation upon biotic stress. The absence of hsp104 and/or hsp20-L and S. curviseta stress resulted in increased cellular damage. During asexual development, both hsp104 and hsp20-L promoted chitin and β-glucan synthesis and catalase activity. During sexual development, only chitin synthesis was enhanced in Δhsp104 and Δhsp20-L. Under S. curviseta stress, HSP104 promoted chitin synthesis and catalase activity during asexual development, whereas HSP20-L promoted chitin and trehalose synthesis and superoxide dismutase activity during sexual development. Collectively, our results suggest that hsp104 and hsp20-L play a role in response to S. curviseta stress to maintain homeostasis.
热休克蛋白(HSPs)是保守的生物分子,在应激反应中持续表达并上调。然而,真菌是否会因食真菌节肢动物的攻击而激活热休克蛋白仍不清楚。在本研究中,我们调查了构巢曲霉中HSP104和HSP20-L在弯角棘跳虫胁迫下的功能。结果显示,在胁迫下hsp104和hsp20-L上调。敲除hsp104和/或hsp20-L会抑制分生孢子和闭囊壳的形成。此外,弯角棘跳虫胁迫抑制了野生型菌株中分生孢子和闭囊壳的形成。hsp104在应激反应中正向调节分生孢子的形成,而hsp20-L则负向调节。值得注意的是,在生物胁迫下,hsp104和hsp20-L在子囊孢子形成上表现出相反的功能。hsp104和/或hsp20-L的缺失以及弯角棘跳虫胁迫导致细胞损伤增加。在无性发育过程中,hsp104和hsp20-L均促进几丁质和β-葡聚糖的合成以及过氧化氢酶活性。在有性发育过程中,Δhsp104和Δhsp20-L中只有几丁质合成增强。在弯角棘跳虫胁迫下,HSP104在无性发育过程中促进几丁质合成和过氧化氢酶活性,而HSP20-L在有性发育过程中促进几丁质和海藻糖合成以及超氧化物歧化酶活性。总的来说,我们的结果表明hsp104和hsp20-L在应对弯角棘跳虫胁迫以维持体内平衡方面发挥作用。