Lipo-Chitooligosaccharides Induce Specialized Fungal Metabolite Profiles That Modulate Bacterial Growth.

Lipo-chitooligosaccharides (LCOs) are historically known for their role as microbial-derived signaling molecules that shape plant symbiosis with beneficial rhizobia or mycorrhizal fungi. Recent studies showing that LCOs are widespread across the fungal kingdom have raised questions about the ecological function of these compounds in organisms that do not form symbiotic relationships with plants. To elucidate the ecological function of these compounds, we investigate the metabolomic response of the ubiquitous human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus to LCOs. Our metabolomics data revealed that exogenous application of various types of LCOs to A. fumigatus resulted in significant shifts in the fungal metabolic profile, with marked changes in the production of specialized metabolites known to mediate ecological interactions. Using network analyses, we identify specific types of LCOs with the most significant effect on the abundance of known metabolites. Extracts of several LCO-induced metabolic profiles significantly impact the growth rates of diverse bacterial species. These findings suggest that LCOs may play an important role in the competitive dynamics of non-plant-symbiotic fungi and bacteria. This study identifies specific metabolomic profiles induced by these ubiquitously produced chemicals and creates a foundation for future studies into the potential roles of LCOs as modulators of interkingdom competition. IMPORTANCE The activation of silent biosynthetic gene clusters (BGC) for the identification and characterization of novel fungal secondary metabolites is a perpetual motion in natural product discoveries. Here, we demonstrated that one of the best-studied symbiosis signaling compounds, lipo-chitooligosaccharides (LCOs), play a role in activating some of these BGCs, resulting in the production of known, putative, and unknown metabolites with biological activities. This collection of metabolites induced by LCOs differentially modulate bacterial growth, while the LCO standards do not convey the same effect. These findings create a paradigm shift showing that LCOs have a more prominent role outside of host recognition of symbiotic microbes. Importantly, our work demonstrates that fungi use LCOs to produce a variety of metabolites with biological activity, which can be a potential source of bio-stimulants, pesticides, or pharmaceuticals.

Long-Distance Dispersal of Fungi.

Dispersal is a fundamental biological process, operating at multiple temporal and spatial scales. Despite an increasing understanding of fungal biodiversity, most research on fungal dispersal focuses on only a small fraction of species. Thus, any discussion of the dispersal dynamics of fungi as a whole is problematic. While abundant morphological and biogeographic data are available for hundreds of species, researchers have yet to integrate this information into a unifying paradigm of fungal dispersal, especially in the context of long-distance dispersal (LDD). Fungal LDD is mediated by multiple vectors, including meteorological phenomena (e.g., wind and precipitation), plants (e.g., seeds and senesced leaves), animals (e.g., fur, feathers, and gut microbiomes), and in many cases humans. In addition, fungal LDD is shaped by both physical constraints on travel and the ability of spores to survive harsh environments. Finally, fungal LDD is commonly measured in different ways, including by direct capture of spores, genetic comparisons of disconnected populations, and statistical modeling and simulations of dispersal data. To unify perspectives on fungal LDD, we propose a synthetic three-part definition that includes (i) an identification of the source population and a measure of the concentration of source inoculum and (ii) a measured and/or modeled dispersal kernel. With this information, LDD is defined as (iii) the distance found within the dispersal kernel beyond which only 1% of spores travel.