Transcriptional profiles of a foliar fungal endophyte (Pestalotiopsis, Ascomycota) and its endohyphal bacterium (Luteibacter, Gammaproteobacteria) in co-culture support sulfur exchange and growth regulation
Authors: Shaffer Justin P. , Carter Morgan E. , Spraker Joseph E. , Clark Meara , Smith Brian A. , Hockett Kevin L. , Baltrus David A. , Arnold A. Elizabeth 
Published: November 2021

Symbiosis with bacteria is widespread among eukaryotes, including fungi. Bacteria that live within fungal mycelia (endohyphal bacteria) occur in many plant-associated fungi, including diverse Mucoromycota and Dikarya. Pestalotiopsis sp. 9143 is a filamentous ascomycete isolated originally as a foliar endophyte of Platycladus orientalis (Cupressaceae). It is infected naturally with the endohyphal bacterium Luteibacter sp. 9143, which influences auxin and enzyme production by its fungal host. Previous studies have used transcriptomics to examine similar symbioses between endohyphal bacteria and root-associated fungi such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant pathogens. However, currently there are no gene expression studies of endohyphal bacteria of Ascomycota, the most species-rich fungal phylum. We developed methods for assessing gene expression by Pestalotiopsis sp. and Luteibacter sp. when grown in co-culture and when each was grown axenically. Our assays showed that the density of Luteibacter sp. in co-culture was greater than in axenic culture, but the opposite was true for the Pestalotiopsis sp. Dual RNA-seq data demonstrate that growing in co-culture modulates developmental and metabolic processes in both the fungus and bacterium, potentially through changes in the balance of organic sulfur via methionine acquisition. Our analyses also suggest an unexpected, potential role of the bacterial type VI secretion system in symbiosis establishment, expanding current understanding of the scope and dynamics of fungal-bacterial symbioses.

TWEET

When in co-culture, Luteibacter downregulates motility and upregulates a T6SS. Gene expression changes in its host, Pestalotiopsis, suggest the bacterium impacts fungal cell structure and methionine availability.

IMPORTANCE

Interactions between microbes and their hosts have important outcomes for host- and environmental health. Foliar fungal endophytes that infect healthy plants can harbor facultative endosymbionts called endohyphal bacteria, which can influence the outcome of plant-fungus interactions. These bacterial-fungal interactions can be influential but are poorly understood, particularly from a transcriptome perspective. Here, we report on a comparative, dual RNA-seq study examining the gene expression patterns of a foliar fungal endophyte and a facultative endohyphal bacterium when cultured together vs. separately. Our findings support a role for the fungus in providing organic sulfur to the bacterium, potentially through methionine acquisition, and potential involvement of a bacterial type VI secretion system in symbiosis establishment.

This work adds to the growing body of literature characterizing endohyphal bacterial-fungal interactions, with a focus on a model facultative bacterial-fungal symbiosis in two species-rich lineages, the Ascomycota and Proteobacteria.