Environmental Microbiology (2015) 17, 4213-4238

Zhangjiang He, Suhong Zhang, Nemat O. Keyhani, Yulin Song, Shuaishuai Huang, Yan Pei and Yongjun Zhang (2015)
A novel mitochondrial membrane protein, Ohmm, limits fungal oxidative stress resistance and virulence in the insect fungal pathogen Beauveria bassiana
Environmental Microbiology 17 (11), 4213-4238
Abstract: The Hog1 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase regulates environmental stress responses and virulence in the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana. To further characterize this pathway, we constructed a subtraction library enriched for genes regulated by Hog1. One targeted gene, encoding a novel membrane protein, Ohmm (oxidative homeostasis membrane-protein–mitochondria), was uniquely identified as being downregulated in the DeltaHog1 background during growth under non-stress and osmotic stress conditions, but upregulated under oxidative stress. Ohmm was an experimentally validated flavin-binding protein and targeted to the mitochondria. Deletion of Ohmm resulted in increased oxidative stress resistance, whereas overexpression caused an opposite phenotype. The DeltaOhmm showed accumulation of reactive oxygen species with alterations in cell wall composition and compatible solute accumulation evident as compared with the wild type parent. Conidiation was reduced > 80%; however, conidia produced by the DeltaOhmm strain germinated significantly faster than wild type cells. Insect bioassays using the greater wax moth revealed increased virulence for the DeltaOhmm strain in both topical and intrahemocoel injection assays, indicating a negative effect of the presence of Ohmm with respect to pathogenesis. As predicted from our characterization, deletion of Ohmm in a DeltaHog1 background rescued its oxidative sensitivity phenotype, confirming that Ohmm acts downstream of the Hog1 MAP-kinase.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Beauveria bassiana (entomopathogen)