1887

Abstract

-Aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) is synthesized in fungi by ALA synthase, a key enzyme in the synthesis of haem. The requirement for ALA synthase in to cause disease in wheat was investigated. The single gene encoding ALA synthase () was cloned and characterized. Expression analysis determined that transcription was up-regulated during germination and also towards the latter stages of the infection. The gene was further characterized by homologous gene replacement. The inactivation of resulted in strains producing severely stunted germ tubes leading quickly to death. The strains could be recovered by supplementation with 33 μM ALA. Pathogenicity assays revealed the strains were essentially non-pathogenic, inferring a key role for the synthesis of ALA during growth. Supplementing the strains with ALA restored growth and also pathogenicity for up to 5 days after inoculation. Further examination by inoculating the strains onto wounded leaves found that pathogenicity was only partially restored, suggesting that host-derived levels of ALA are not sufficient to support growth. This study has identified a key role for fungal ALA synthesis during infection and revealed its potential as an antifungal target.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.28556-0
2006-05-01
2024-11-04
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/micro/152/5/1533.html?itemId=/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.28556-0&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Beale S. I. 1978; δ -Aminolevulinic acid in plants: its biosynthesis, regulation, and role in plastid development. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 29:95–120 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Beale S. I., Castelfranco P. A. 1974; The biosynthesis of δ -aminolevulinic acid in higher plants. II. Formation of 14C- δ -aminolevulinic acid from labelled precursors in greening plant tissues. Plant Phys 53:297–303 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bruzzese E., Hasan S. 1983; A whole leaf clearing and staining technique for host specificity studies of rust fungi. Plant Pathol 32:335–338 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Elrod S. L., Jones A., Berka R. M., Cherry J. R. 2000; Cloning of the Aspergillus oryzae 5-aminolevulinate synthase gene and its use as a selectable marker. Curr Genet 38:291–298 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Idnurm A., Howlett B. J. 2002; Isocitrate lyase is essential for the pathogenicity of the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans to canola ( Brassica napus . Eukaryot Cell 1:719–724 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Kikuchi G., Kumar A., Talmage P., Shemin D. 1958; The enzymatic synthesis of δ -aminolevulinic acid. J Biol Chem 233:1214–1219
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Murray G. M., Brown J. F. 1987; The incidence and relative importance of wheat diseases in Australia. Aust Plant Pathol 16:34–37 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Rebeiz C. A., Montazer-Zouhoor A., Hopen H. J., Wu S. M. 1984; Photodynamic herbicides: 1. Concept and phenomenology. Enzyme Microb Technol 6:390–401 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Schneegurt M. A. 2005; δ -Aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis in Ustilago maydis . J Basic Microbiol 45:155–159 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Shipton W. A., Brown J. F. 1962; A whole-leaf clearing and staining technique to demonstrate host–pathogen relationships of wheat stem rust. Phytopathology 52:1313–1318
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Solomon P. S., Oliver R. P. 2001; The nitrogen content of the tomato leaf apoplast increases during infection by Cladosporium fulvum . Planta 213:241–249 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Solomon P. S., Tan K. C., Oliver R. P. 2003a; The nutrient supply of pathogenic fungi; a fertile field for study. Mol Plant Pathol 4:203–210 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Solomon P. S., Thomas S. W., Spanu P., Oliver R. P. 2003b; The utilisation of di/tripeptides by Stagonospora nodorum is dispensable for wheat infection. Physiol Mol Plant Pathol 63:191–199 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Solomon P. S., Lee R. C., Wilson T. J. G., Oliver R. P. 2004; Pathogenicity of Stagonospora nodorum requires malate synthase. Mol Microbiol 53:1065–1073 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Solomon P. S., Tan K.-C., Oliver R. P. 2005; Mannitol 1-phosphate metabolism is required for sporulation in planta of the wheat pathogen Stagonospora nodorum . Mol Plant Microbe Interact 18:110–115 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Thines E., Weber R. W. S., Talbot N. J. 2000; MAP kinase and protein kinase A-dependent mobilization of triacylglycerol and glycogen during appressorium turgor generation by Magnaporthe grisea . Plant Cell 12:1703–1718
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Urban-Grimal D., Labbe-Bois R. 1981; Genetic and biochemical characterisation of mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae blocked at six different steps of heme biosynthesis. Mol Gen Genet 183:85–92 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Urban-Grimal D., Volland C., Garnier T., Dehoux P., Labbe-Bois R. 1986; The nucleotide sequence of the HEM1 gene and evidence for a precursor of the mitochondrial 5-aminolevulinate synthase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Eur J Biochem 156:511–519 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Weber G. F. 1922; Septoria diseases of wheat. Phytopathology 12:537–585
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.28556-0
Loading
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.28556-0
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error