Fusarium virguliforme Transcriptional Plasticity Is Revealed by Host Colonization of Corn vs. Soybean.

Baetsen-Young A, Wai CM, VanBuren R, Day B.

Plant Cell. 2019 Dec 18. pii: tpc.00697.2019. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00697. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

We exploited the broad host range of Fusarium virguliforme to identify differential fungal responses leading to either an endophytic or a pathogenic lifestyle during colonization of corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max), respectively. To provide a foundation to survey the transcriptomic landscape, we produced an improved de novo genome assembly and annotation of F. virguliforme using PacBio sequencing. Next, we conducted a high-resolution time course of F. virguliforme colonization and infection of both soybean, a symptomatic host, and corn, an asymptomatic host. Comparative transcriptomic analyses uncovered a nearly complete network rewiring, with less than 8% average gene coexpression module overlap upon colonizing the different plant hosts. Divergence of transcriptomes originating from host specific temporal induction genes is central to infection and colonization, including carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) and necrosis inducing effectors. Upregulation of Zn(II)-Cys6 transcription factors were uniquely induced in soybean at 2 days post-inoculation, suggestive of enhanced pathogen virulence on soybean. In total, the data described herein suggest that F. virguliforme modulates divergent infection profiles through transcriptional plasticity.

http://www.plantcell.org/content/early/2019/12/18/tpc.19.00697.long

Figure 1. Syntenic Regions between Genome Versions of Fusarium virguliforme. (A) Plot of syntenic regions retained between genome version 1 (v1) and genome version 2 (v2). Diagonal lines, including differences in lengths, illustrate distances of overlap between F. virguliforme v1 and v2 genome versions, and the syntenic regions between the scaffolds (Sca) and contigs (Ctg) in each. (B) Micro-collinearity between scaffold 1 of genome v1 and contig 1 of genome v2 connected by shaded grey areas. Regions containing genes are highlighted in green or blue, for forward or reverse orientation, respectively.