Environmental Microbiology (2021) 23, 5087-5101
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Manipulation of host ecdysteroid hormone levels facilitates infection by the fungal insect pathogen, Metarhizium rileyi
Environmental Microbiology 23 (9), 5087-5101
Abstract: Entomopathogenic fungi such as Metarhizium rileyi and Beauveria bassiana are widely used insect biological control agents. Little, however, is known concerning genetic or enzymatic factors that differentiate the mechanisms employed by these two fungal pathogens to infect target hosts. Infection by either of these organisms is known to increase levels of the growth and molting hormone, ecdysone, which also regulates the expression of a number of innate immune pathways. M. rileyi, but not B. bassiana, has apparently evolved an ecdysteroid-22-oxidase (MrE22O) that inactivate ecdysone. We show that deletion of MrE22O impaired virulence compared with the wild-type strain, with an increase in ecdysone titer seen in hosts that was coupled to an increase in the expression of antimicrobial genes. An M. rileyi strain engineered to overexpress MrE22O (MrE22OOE), as well as trans-expression in B. bassiana (Bb::MrE220OE) resulted, in strains displaying enhanced virulence and dampening of host immune responses compared with their respective wild-type parental strains. These results indicate that ecdysone plays an important role in mediating responses to fungal infection and that some insect pathogenic fungi have evolved mechanisms for targeting this hormone as a means for facilitating infection.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Nemat O. Keyhani
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
molecular biology - genes
resistance/tolerance/defence of host
Pest and/or beneficial records:
| Beneficial | Pest/Disease/Weed | Crop/Product | Country | Quarant. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metarhizium rileyi (entomopathogen) |
