Lifestyle transitions in plant pathogenic Colletotrichum fungi deciphered by genome and transcriptome analyses.

Colletotrichum species are fungal pathogens that devastate crop plants worldwide. Host infection involves the differentiation of specialized cell types that are associated with penetration, growth inside living host cells (biotrophy) and tissue destruction (necrotrophy). We report here genome and transcriptome analyses of Colletotrichum higginsianum infecting Arabidopsis thaliana and Colletotrichum graminicola infecting maize. Comparative genomics showed that both fungi have large sets of pathogenicity-related genes, but families of genes encoding secreted effectors, pectin-degrading enzymes, secondary metabolism enzymes, transporters and peptidases are expanded in C. higginsianum. Genome-wide expression profiling revealed that these genes are transcribed in successive waves that are linked to pathogenic transitions: effectors and secondary metabolism enzymes are induced before penetration and during biotrophy, whereas most hydrolases and transporters are upregulated later, at the switch to necrotrophy. Our findings show that preinvasion perception of plant-derived signals substantially reprograms fungal gene expression and indicate previously unknown functions for particular fungal cell types.

Overexpression of a gene encoding hydrogen peroxide-generating oxalate oxidase evokes defense responses in sunflower.

Oxalate oxidase (OXO) converts oxalic acid (OA) and O(2) to CO(2) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), and acts as a source of H(2)O(2) in certain plant-pathogen interactions. To determine if the H(2)O(2) produced by OXO can function as a messenger for activation of defense genes and if OXO can confer resistance against an OA-producing pathogen, we analyzed transgenic sunflower (Helianthus annuus cv SMF3) plants constitutively expressing a wheat (Triticum aestivum) OXO gene. The transgenic leaf tissues could degrade exogenous OA and generate H(2)O(2). Hypersensitive response-like lesion mimicry was observed in the transgenic leaves expressing a high level of OXO, and lesion development was closely associated with elevated levels of H(2)O(2), salicylic acid, and defense gene expression. Activation of defense genes was also observed in the transgenic leaves that had a low level of OXO expression and had no visible lesions, indicating that defense gene activation may not be dependent on hypersensitive response-like cell death. To further understand the pathways that were associated with defense activation, we used GeneCalling, an RNA-profiling technology, to analyze the alteration of gene expression in the transgenic plants. Among the differentially expressed genes, full-length cDNAs encoding homologs of a PR5, a sunflower carbohydrate oxidase, and a defensin were isolated. RNA-blot analysis confirmed that expression of these three genes was significantly induced in the OXO transgenic sunflower leaves. Furthermore, treatment of untransformed sunflower leaves with jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, or H(2)O(2) increased the steady-state levels of these mRNAs. Notably, the transgenic sunflower plants exhibited enhanced resistance against the OA-generating fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.