scholarly journals Suppression or Activation of Immune Responses by Predicted Secreted Proteins of the Soybean Rust Pathogen Phakopsora pachyrhizi

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingsheng Qi ◽  
James P. Grayczyk ◽  
Janina M. Seitz ◽  
Youngsill Lee ◽  
Tobias I. Link ◽  
...  

Rust fungi, such as the soybean rust pathogen Phakopsora pachyrhizi, are major threats to crop production. They form specialized haustoria that are hyphal structures intimately associated with host-plant cell membranes. These haustoria have roles in acquiring nutrients and secreting effector proteins that manipulate host immune systems. Functional characterization of effector proteins of rust fungi is important for understanding mechanisms that underlie their virulence and pathogenicity. Hundreds of candidate effector proteins have been predicted for rust pathogens, but it is not clear how to prioritize these effector candidates for further characterization. There is a need for high-throughput approaches for screening effector candidates to obtain experimental evidence for effector-like functions, such as the manipulation of host immune systems. We have focused on identifying effector candidates with immune-related functions in the soybean rust fungus P. pachyrhizi. To facilitate the screening of many P. pachyrhizi effector candidates (named PpECs), we used heterologous expression systems, including the bacterial type III secretion system, Agrobacterium infiltration, a plant virus, and a yeast strain, to establish an experimental pipeline for identifying PpECs with immune-related functions and establishing their subcellular localizations. Several PpECs were identified that could suppress or activate immune responses in nonhost Nicotiana benthamiana, N. tabacum, Arabidopsis, tomato, or pepper plants.

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 491-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bret Cooper ◽  
Kimberly B. Campbell ◽  
Hunter S. Beard ◽  
Wesley M. Garrett ◽  
Nazrul Islam

The plant-pathogenic fungi Uromyces appendiculatus and Phakopsora pachyrhizi cause debilitating rust diseases on common bean and soybean. These rust fungi secrete effector proteins that allow them to infect plants, but their effector repertoires are not understood. The discovery of rust fungus effectors may eventually help guide decisions and actions that mitigate crop production loss. Therefore, we used mass spectrometry to identify thousands of proteins in infected beans and soybeans and in germinated fungal spores. The comparative analysis between the two helped differentiate a set of 24 U. appendiculatus proteins targeted for secretion that were specifically found in infected beans and a set of 34 U. appendiculatus proteins targeted for secretion that were found in germinated spores and infected beans. The proteins specific to infected beans included family 26 and family 76 glycoside hydrolases that may contribute to degrading plant cell walls. There were also several types of proteins with structural motifs that may aid in stabilizing the specialized fungal haustorium cell that interfaces the plant cell membrane during infection. There were 16 P. pachyrhizi proteins targeted for secretion that were found in infected soybeans, and many of these proteins resembled the U. appendiculatus proteins found in infected beans, which implies that these proteins are important to rust fungal pathology in general. This data set provides insight to the biochemical mechanisms that rust fungi use to overcome plant immune systems and to parasitize cells.


Plant Disease ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 92 (11) ◽  
pp. 1551-1558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne M. Jurick ◽  
Dario F. Narvaez ◽  
Meghan M. Brennan ◽  
Carrie L. Harmon ◽  
James J. Marois ◽  
...  

Soybean rust (SBR) survival and host availability (kudzu, Pueraria spp.) were assessed from November 2006 through April 2007 at six sites from the panhandle to southwest Florida. Micro loggers recorded both temperature and relative humidity hourly at each location. Periods of drought and cumulative hours below 0°C correlated with kudzu defoliation. Inoculum potential from detached kudzu leaves was evaluated in vitro under various temperature and relative humidity levels. Kudzu leaves with SBR kept at 4°C produced viable urediniospores with the highest germination at all moisture levels over time. Freezing temperatures (–4 and –20°C) drastically reduced spore germination. However, when leaves were incubated at low (<35%) relative humidity, inoculum potential was prolonged. Results from this study demonstrate that both temperature and relative humidity impact P. pachyrhizi in the field and in vitro, and that detached kudzu leaves have the potential to serve as an inoculum source in kudzu stands.


2012 ◽  
Vol 102 (8) ◽  
pp. 749-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Ward ◽  
C. L. Robertson ◽  
A. K. Chanda ◽  
R. W. Schneider

The fungus Simplicillium lanosoniveum was isolated from soybean leaves infected with Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the soybean rust pathogen, in Louisiana and Florida. The fungus did not grow or become established on leaf surfaces until uredinia erupted, but when soybean rust signs and symptoms were evident, S. lanosoniveum colonized leaves within 3 days and sporulated within 4 days. Development of new uredinia was suppressed by about fourfold when S. lanosoniveum colonized uredinia. In the presence of S. lanosoniveum, uredinia became increasingly red-brown, and urediniospores turned brown and germinated at very low rates. Assays using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction revealed that the fungus colonized leaf surfaces when plants were infected with P. pachyrhizi, either in a latent stage of infection or when symptoms were present. However, when plants were inoculated before infection, there was no increase of DNA of S. lanosoniveum, suggesting that the pathogen must be present in order for the antagonist to become established on soybean leaf surfaces. We documented significantly lower amounts of DNA of P. pachyrhizi and lower disease severity when soybean leaves were colonized with S. lanosoniveum. These studies documented the mycophilic and disease-suppressive nature of S. lanosoniveum.


Plant Disease ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 575-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Haudenshield ◽  
Glen L. Hartman

Herbarium specimens are useful to compare attributes of the past to attributes of today and predictions into the future. In this study, herbarium specimens from 1887 to 2006 were used to identify Phakopsora pachyrhizi and P. meibomiae, the two known fungal species that cause soybean rust. Historically, these two species differed in geographic distribution, with P. pachyrhizi confined to Asia and Australia, and P. meibomiae confined to the Americas. In our analyses, herbarium specimens were used to determine whether it was possible to extract adequate useful DNA from the fungal structures. If present, quantitative PCR primers specific to P. pachyrhizi, P. meibomiae, or to a third group inclusive of many rust species could be used to speciate the fungus. Of the 38 archival specimens, 11 were positive for P. pachyrhizi, including a 1912 specimen from Japan; 15 were positive for P. meibomiae, including a 1928 specimen from Brazil and two 1923 specimens from the Philippines; and 12 (including all African accessions) were negative for both species. Five specimens were positive in the more inclusive rust assay; all had been labeled as P. pachyrhizi and none were on soybean. These results demonstrate the feasibility of DNA genotyping in archaeophytopathological investigations.


2009 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Hoefle ◽  
Marco Loehrer ◽  
Ulrich Schaffrath ◽  
Markus Frank ◽  
Holger Schultheiss ◽  
...  

The basidiomycete Phakopsora pachyrhizi (P. pachyrhizi) causes Asian soybean rust, one of the most devastating plant diseases on soybean. When inoculated on the nonhost barley P. pachyrhizi caused only very small necrotic spots, typical for an incompatible interaction, which involves a hypersensitive cell death reaction. A microscopic inspection of the interaction of barley with P. pachyrhizi revealed that the fungus germinated on barley and formed functional appressoria on epidermal cells. The fungus attempted to directly penetrate through periclinal cell walls but often failed, arrested in plant cell wall appositions that stained positively for callose. Penetration resistance depends on intact ROR1(REQUIRED FOR mlo-SPECIFIED RESISTANCE 1) and ROR2 genes of barley. If the fungus succeeded in penetration, epidermal cell death took place. Dead epidermal cells did not generally restrict fungal development but allowed for mesophyll invasion, which was followed by mesophyll cell death and fungal arrest. Transient or stable over expression of the barley cell death suppressor BAX inhibitor-1 reduced both epidermal cell death and fungal penetration success. Data suggest that P. pachyrhizi provokes a programmed cell death facilitating fungal entry into epidermal cells of barley.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document