| Congresso Brasileiro de Microbiologia 2023 | Resumo: 1416-1 | ||||
Resumo:Generalist pathogens with a broad host range encounter many different host environments. Such generalist pathogens are often highly versatile and adjust their expressed phenotype to the infected host. Adaptive responses to hosts may be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, allowing short-term specialization while maintaining the broad host range potential. The fungal genus Metarhizium occupies diverse ecological roles, acting as plant root symbionts, soil saprotrophs, and insect pathogens with applications in the biological control of pests. The species M. anisopliae, one of the most studied and applied biological control agents worldwide, is highly diverse. We investigated differential gene expression in M. anisopliae blastospores during infection of different insect hosts. The Metarhizium anisopliae commercial isolate ESALQ E9 was chosen for the tests. The fungus was produced under liquid fermentation and inoculated on membranous wings of Tenebrio molitor, Spodoptera frugiperda, Gryllus assimilis, and Apis mellifera. The membranous wings were incubated until fungal germination and appressoria formation before the RNA extraction using TRIzol&trade. The total RNA of the samples was sequenced with Illumina HiSeq 2500 technology and mapped to the reference genome of M. anisopliae. The differential expression analysis was conducted using the DESeq2 package from the statistical software R. The InterPro database was used to annotate protein sequences and identify protein domains of the differential expressed genes. Enrichment analyses of PFAM domains were performed based on the hypergeometric distribution using the PHYPER function in R, and significantly enriched PFAM domains were assigned based on p<0.001. We showed a clear difference in the gene expression pattern in the blastospores of M. anisopliae during infection of the different hosts. This implies that M. anisopliae transcriptome and virulence change remarkably according to the insect, with the most significant differences for G. assimillis. These differences are associated with the expression of enzymes involved in the degradation of specific compounds present in each insect wing and hydrophobins, destruxins, and secondary metabolites associated with virulence. The study emphasizes the differences in fungal gene expression during infection of the four insect orders and highlights the virulence-related genes specific to each infective process. Palavras-chave: Adaptive responses, blastospores, gene expression, fungal infection, phenotypical plasticity Agência de fomento:National Council for Scientific and Technological Development grant (CNPq) | |||||