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Fungal pathogenesis

Hungry fungus eats nematode

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 9, pages 766–767 (2011)Cite this article

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Yang et al. describe the first sequenced genome of a carnivorous fungus, that of Arthrobotrys oligospora

There are more than 700 species of carnivorous fungi, which capture and consume nematodes, springtails and amoebae. Species of the genus Arthrobotrys produce three-dimensional nets that trap and immobilize nematodes, after which the fungus penetrates and digests the worm. This is such an effective mechanism that these fungi have been used commercially as anti-nematode agents. However, little is known about the biology of the trapping stages of the fungus. Yang et al. investigated the switch from the saprophytic to the carnivorous lifestyle in A. oligospora, first by sequencing its genome and then by investigating the changes in protein expression. They found 11,479 protein-coding genes in the A. oligospora genome, of which 6,157 were specific for A. oligospora, 961 were shared with other fungal pathogens and 112 were shared with non-pathogenic fungi. Phylogenetic analyses with 11 other fungi revealed that Arthrobotrys spp. form a separate branch of fungi. To determine which proteins are involved in the carnivorous lifestyle, the authors monitored changes in transcript and protein levels by quantitative PCR and proteomics, respectively, 10 hours and 48 hours after the addition of nematode extract, which induces net formation. This revealed that the levels of proteins involved in translation, post-translational modification, amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, energy conversion, and cell wall and membrane biogenesis were upregulated after 10 hours, indicating that the fungus is actively growing at this stage. The number of proteins with altered levels was lower after 48 hours, indicating that most of the changes occur early in the process. Interestingly, no change was detected in the levels of any of the lectins that are thought to be involved in trapping the nematode, although the transcript levels of five of the 17 adhesion-associated genes were increased.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Yang, J. et al. Genomic and proteomic analyses of the fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora provide insights into nematode-trap formation. PLoS Pathog. 7, e1002179 (2011)

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  1. Christiaan van Ooij
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van Ooij, C. Hungry fungus eats nematode. Nat Rev Microbiol 9, 766–767 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2674

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