Mitochondrial fission dysfunction alleviates heterokaryon incompatibility-triggered cell death in the industrial filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae

ABSTRACTIn filamentous fungi, cell-to-cell recognition is a fundamental requirement for the formation, development, and maintenance of complex hyphal networks. Basically, self/compatible individuals within the fungal species are capable of fusing together, a step important for crossbreeding, which results in the formation of viable vegetative heterokaryons. Conversely, the fusion of incompatible individuals does not result in the formation of viable hyphal networks, but it often leads to growth inhibition or cell death. Even though a number of studies have been conducted to investigate such incompatibility, the understanding of the associated molecular mechanism is still limited, and this restricts the possibility of crossbreeding incompatible individuals. Therefore, in this study, the characteristics of compatibility/incompatibility in the industrial filamentous fungus, Aspergillus oryzae, were comprehensively investigated. Protoplast fusion and co-culture assays indicated the existence of a correlation between strain phylogeny and compatibility/incompatibility features. Time-course fluorescence observations were employed to investigate the types of incompatible responses that are induced at different cellular levels upon incompatible cell fusion, which eventually lead to cell death. Propidium iodide-indicated cell death, ROS accumulation, and mitochondrial fragmentation were identified as the major responses, with mitochondrial fragmentation showing the most significant subcellular change immediately after incompatible cell fusion. Furthermore, the deletions of mitochondrial fission-related genes Aofis1 and Aodnm1 in incompatible pairing alleviated cell death, indicating that mitochondrial fission is an important mechanism by which incompatibility-triggered cell death occurs. Therefore, this study provides new insights about heterokaryon incompatibility.IMPORTANCEFor a long time, it was believed that as an asexual fungus, A. oryzae does not exhibit any sexual cycle. However, the fungus has two mating types, indicating the potential for sexual reproduction besides a known parasexual cycle. Therefore, given that viable heterokaryon formation following cell fusion is an important step required for genetic crossing, we explored the mechanism of incompatibility, which restricts the possibility of cell fusion in A. oryzae. Protoplast fusion and co-culture assays led to the identification of various vegetative compatible groups. Mitochondrial fragmentation was found to be the most significant incompatible cellular response that occurred in organelles during incompatible pairing, while the deletion of mitochondrial fission-related genes was identified as a strategy used to alleviate incompatibility-triggered cell death. Thus, this study revealed a novel mechanism by which mitochondrial fission regulates incompatible responses.

Embryogenic Calli Induction and Salt Stress Response Revealed by RNA-Seq in Diploid Wild Species Gossypium sturtianum and Gossypium raimondii

Wild cotton species can contribute to a valuable gene pool for genetic improvement, such as genes related to salt tolerance. However, reproductive isolation of different species poses an obstacle to produce hybrids through conventional breeding. Protoplast fusion technology for somatic cell hybridization provides an opportunity for genetic manipulation and targeting of agronomic traits. Transcriptome sequencing analysis of callus under salt stress is conducive to study salt tolerance genes. In this study, calli were induced to provide materials for extracting protoplasts and also for screening salt tolerance genes. Calli were successfully induced from leaves of Gossypium sturtianum (C1 genome) and hypocotyls of G. raimondii (D5 genome), and embryogenic calli of G. sturtianum and G. raimondii were induced on a differentiation medium with different concentrations of 2, 4-D, KT, and IBA, respectively. In addition, embryogenic calli were also induced successfully from G. raimondii through suspension cultivation. Transcriptome sequencing analysis was performed on the calli of G. raimondii and G. sturtianum, which were treated with 200 mM NaCl at 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h, and a total of 12,524 genes were detected with different expression patterns under salt stress. Functional analysis showed that 3,482 genes, which were differentially expressed in calli of G. raimondii and G. sturtianum, were associated with biological processes of nucleic acid binding, plant hormone (such as ABA) biosynthesis, and signal transduction. We demonstrated that DEGs or TFs which related to ABA metabolism were involved in the response to salt stress, including xanthoxin dehydrogenase genes (ABA2), sucrose non-fermenting 1-related protein kinases (SnRK2), NAM, ATAT1/2, and CUC2 transcription factors (NAC), and WRKY class of zinc-finger proteins (WRKY). This research has successfully induced calli from two diploid cotton species and revealed new genes responding to salt stress in callus tissue, which will lay the foundation for protoplast fusion for further understanding of salt stress responses in cotton.

Protoplast Isolation, Fusion, Culture and Transformation in the Woody Plant Jasminum spp.

Plant protoplasts are significant for plant cell culture, somatic cell fusion, genetics, and breeding studies. In addition, in vitro plant regeneration has great importance for developmental biology, manifesting potential applications in agriculture and biotechnology. In this regard, we present a well-established protocol regarding protoplast isolation, cell culture and protoplast fusion of Jasminum spp. In particular, different tissues of Jasminum samab L. and Jasminum mesnyi were employed for protoplast isolation, and stem explants provided a high callus induction rate in a short period of time. The best source for protoplast isolation was calli tissues. The optimized isolation protocol consisted of digesting callus in an enzyme solution containing 0.4 M mannitol, 0.2 M MES, 1 M CaCl2, 0.2 M KCL and 1 M NaH2PO4, 1.5% Cellulases onozuka R-10, 0.4% Macerozyme R-10 and 0.8% Pectinase for 4 h at 26 °C in the dark, providing a yield of 23.8 × 106 Protoplast/gFW with 88% viability. Protoplasts were cultured both in liquid and agarose medium under optimum conditions, leading to microcalli formation after eight weeks. A 5% protoplast-fusion rate can be achieved when cultured in 40% (w/v) PEG-MW6000 supplemented with 0.1 M CaCl2, 0.1 M sorbitol and 1 M Tris for 20 min. Furthermore, we developed an efficient PEG-mediated transformation protocol for jasmine protoplasts. The best results regarding protoplast transformation were obtained when the protoplast concentration was 4 × 105 cells/mL and the exogenous plasmid DNA added had a concentration of 10 µg DNA/100 µL protoplast solution, followed by the application of 40% PEG-4000 for 10 min.

New Hybrid Strains via Intraspecific Protoplast Fusion of the Entomopathogenic Fungi Lecanicillium spp.

The entomopathogenic fungal genus Lecanicillium Gams and Zare (formerly classified as the species Verticillium lecanii) includes species that are highly pathogenic to many insect genera. In this study, we identified six Lecanicilliumspp. isolated strains (designated as V1-V6) belonging to L. lecanii (V1, V3 and V5) and L. attenuatum (V2, V4 and V6). In addition, these strains were used to obtain new strains via protoplast fusion, and nit mutants were used for protoplast selection. Genetic recombination of the hybrid strains was determined using the random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) technique. We obtained nine stable fusant strains from 176 new hybrid strains, which were termed V12-10, V14-3, V16-4, V23-6, V25-8, V34-14, V36-5, V45-16 and V56-7. Morphological characteristics varied between the hybrid and parental strains. Genomic DNA analysis of the fusants also showed genetic recombination. The median lethal concentration (LC50) for the fusants were lower than that for parental strains, and the median survival time (LT50) for the fusants were reduced compared with that for parental strains. Thus, these results showed that we produced new, more virulent hybrid Lecanicillium spp. strainsas biological control agents via intraspecific protoplast fusion.

Effect of Enzyme Treatments on Protoplast Isolation from Leaves of Vetiver (Vetiveria spp.)

Protoplast isolation is a first and important step for establishing a new plant with desired traits through protoplast fusion technology. This experiments were conducted to evaluate various concentration of enzymes and incubation time on protoplast yield and viability in two vetiver ecotypes, Kamphaeng Phet 2 (Vetiveria zizanioides Nash) and Prachuap Khiri Khan (V. nemoralis A.Camus). The results revealed that protoplast yields were significantly affected by different enzyme treatments. The highest protoplast yield (6.12x105 protoplasts/ml) and high viability (98.61%) in Kamphaeng Phet 2 was obtained through the process of cell wall digestion when treated with enzyme solution containing 0.5% (w/v) cellulase onozuka R-10 and 0.5% (w/v) macerozyme R-10 in combination. While, the optimal enzyme solution for protoplast isolation from leaves of Prachuap Khiri Khan was the combination of 1.0% (w/v) cellulase onozuka R-10 and 0.4% (w/v) macerozyme R-10, resulting in the highest yield (6.80x105 protoplasts/ml) and viability (96.56%) of protoplasts. Meanwhile, incubation time of 24 h with the optimal enzyme solution resulted in the highest protoplast yields of both ecotypes. Our findings have the potential to generate an efficient protocol to isolate the protoplast from leaves of vetiver which can be used for further research studies in protoplast culture and fusion for vetiver improvement. Keywords: Cellulase onozuka R-10, Macerozyme R-10, Protoplast isolation, Vetiver

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Strains Selected from Nature Significantly Increased the Production of 2-Phenylethanol Through Protoplast Fusion

Background: 2-Phenylethanol (2-PE) is an aromatic alcohol with rose fragrance, which is widely used as an additive in food, tobacco and daily chemical industries. Yeast is the main microorganism producing natural 2-PE, but it is limited by low production and weak tolerance. Nature and fermented products is a resource treasury of yeasts with excellent traits. Screening strains with good phenotypic traits and conducting breeding by cell fusion for genetic pyramiding is an effective way to improve strains. Results: In this study, 25 strains of 2-PE-producing yeasts were isolated from Chinese brewed samples. Three Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with good traits in tolerance and 2-PE titre were screened out. The strain LSC-1 produces 2-PE of 3.41 g/L with an increase of 9.3% compared to the industrial strain CWY132. The strain NGER shows good tolerance to 2-PE at the concentration of 3.60 g/L in agar plate, and the thermotolerant strain S.C-1 shows growth ability at 41℃. Two rounds of protoplast fusion were performed with these three parent strains for pyramiding of traits. A fusant strain RH2-16 with high 2-PE titre and increased tolerance was obtained. Using 5g/L L-phenylalanine as the precursor substrate, the maximum titre of 2-PE produced by the RH2-16 strain through fermentation and transformation is 4.31 g/L, and the average titre is 4.04 g/L. The molar conversion rate of L-Phe reached 115% in 36 h. Compared to the parental strain LSC-1 and the industrial strain CWY132, 2-PE titre in RH2-16 increased by 26.4% and 38.1%, respectively.Conclusion: Diversified S. cerevisiae strains with different traits can be isolated from the brewing related samples. Protoplast fusion technology can effectively pyramid excellent genetic traits and breed yeast strains with significantly improved tolerance and 2-PE titre. Our research provided a breeding strategy for S. cerevisiae and a strain for industrial production of 2-PE.

Enhanced Green Production of Biobutanol By Novel Fusants Of Two And Three Clostridia

Protoplast fusion, which is a novel genetic engineering approach, was developed between mesophilic and thermophilic butanol producing bacteria to enhance production of biobutanol as a green energy resource. Three strains of anaerobic gram-positive clostridia were fused through a protoplast fusion technique to produce biobutanol from wheat straw as a feedstock during the process of Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF). These strains have the natural enzymatic ability for biobutanol production, and include Clostridium beijerinckii (ATCC BA101), Clostridium thermocellum, and Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum. The objective of the present study was to increase enzymatic activity during saccharification by raising the temperature of fermentation to increase biobutanol production. Results showed that protoplast fusion of thermophilic and mesophilic clostridia have led to improving thermostability in a fermentation medium at 45°C. This represents the optimum temperature for enzymatic hydrolysis. Results also showed that the fused strain produced essential hydrolysis enzymes, which eliminated the need to add any enzymes during the hydrolysis step. Furthermore, results in the present study demonstrated that the fused culture of bacteria was able to tolerate the elevated concentration of acetone, butanol, and ethanol during production, which resulted in higher biobutanol production of 13.8 g/L. This study included a comparison to the coculture as a benchmark to account for the effects of protoplast fusion.

Enhanced Green Production of Biobutanol By Novel Fusants Of Two And Three Clostridia

Protoplast fusion, which is a novel genetic engineering approach, was developed between mesophilic and thermophilic butanol producing bacteria to enhance production of biobutanol as a green energy resource. Three strains of anaerobic gram-positive clostridia were fused through a protoplast fusion technique to produce biobutanol from wheat straw as a feedstock during the process of Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF). These strains have the natural enzymatic ability for biobutanol production, and include Clostridium beijerinckii (ATCC BA101), Clostridium thermocellum, and Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum. The objective of the present study was to increase enzymatic activity during saccharification by raising the temperature of fermentation to increase biobutanol production. Results showed that protoplast fusion of thermophilic and mesophilic clostridia have led to improving thermostability in a fermentation medium at 45°C. This represents the optimum temperature for enzymatic hydrolysis. Results also showed that the fused strain produced essential hydrolysis enzymes, which eliminated the need to add any enzymes during the hydrolysis step. Furthermore, results in the present study demonstrated that the fused culture of bacteria was able to tolerate the elevated concentration of acetone, butanol, and ethanol during production, which resulted in higher biobutanol production of 13.8 g/L. This study included a comparison to the coculture as a benchmark to account for the effects of protoplast fusion.