Fungal Iron Acquisition, Oxidative Stress and Virulence in the Cochliobolus-maize Interaction
Authors: Horwitz Benjamin A. , Turgeon Barbara Gillian 
Published: March 2022

Our project focused on genes for high affinity iron acquisition in Cochliobolus heterostrophus, a necrotrophic pathogen of maize, and their intertwined relationship to oxidative stress status and virulence of the fungus on the host. An intriguing question was why mutants lacking the nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene (NPS6) responsible for synthesis of the extracellular siderophore, coprogen, are sensitive to oxidative stress. Our overall objective was to understand the mechanistic connection between iron stress and oxidative stress as related to virulence of a plant pathogen to its host. The first objective was to examine the interface where small molecule peptide and reactive oxygen species (ROS) mechanisms overlap. The second objective was to determine if the molecular explanation for common function is common signal transduction pathways. These pathways, built around sensor kinases, response regulators, and transcription factors may link sequestering of iron, production of antioxidants, resistance to oxidative stress, and virulence. We tested these hypotheses by genetic manipulation of the pathogen, virulence assays on the host plant, and by following the expression of key fungal genes. An addition to the original program, made in the first year, was to develop, for fungi, a genetically encoded indicator of redox state based on the commercially available Gfp-based probe pHyper, designed for animal cell biology. We implemented several tools including a genetically encoded indicator of redox state, a procedure to grow iron-depleted plants, and constructed a number of new mutants in regulatory genes. Lack of the major Fe acquisition pathways results in an almost completely avirulent phenotype, showing how critical Fe acquisition is for the pathogen to cause disease. Mutants in conserved signaling pathways have normal ability to regulate NPS6 in response to Fe levels, as do mutants in Lae1 and Vel1, two master regulators of gene expression. Vel1 mutants are sensitive to oxidative stress, and the reason may be underexpression of a catalase gene. In nps6 mutants, CAT3 is also underexpressed, perhaps explaining the sensitivity to oxidative stress. We constructed a deletion mutant for the Fe sensor-regulator SreA and found that it is required for down regulation of NPS6 under Fe-replete conditions. Lack of SreA, though, did not make the fungus over-sensitive to ROS, though the mutant had a slow growth rate. This suggests that overproduction of siderophore under Fe-replete conditions is not very damaging. On the other hand, increasing Fe levels protected nps6 mutants from inhibition by ROS, implying that Fe-catalyzed Fenton reactions are not the main factor in its sensitivity to ROS. We have made some progress in understanding why siderophore mutants are sensitive to oxidative stress, and in doing so, defined some novel regulatory relationships. Catalase genes, which are not directly related to siderophore biosynthesis, are underexpressed in nps6 mutants, suggesting that the siderophore product (with or without bound Fe) may act as a signal. Siderophores, therefore, could be a target for intervention in the field, either by supplying an incorrect signal or blocking a signal normally provided during infection. We already know that nps6 mutants cause smaller lesions and have difficulty establishing invasive growth in the host. Lae1 and Vel1 are the first factors shown to regulate both super virulence conferred by T-toxin, and basic pathogenicity, due to unknown factors. The mutants are also altered in oxidative stress responses, key to success in the infection court, asexual and sexual development, essential for fungal dissemination in the field, aerial hyphal growth, and pigment biosynthesis, essential for survival in the field. Mutants in genes encoding NADPH oxidase (Nox) are compromised in development and virulence. Indeed the triple mutant, which should lack all Nox activity, was nearly avirulent. Again, gene expression experiments provided us with initial evidence that superoxide produced by the fungus may be most important as a signal. Blocking oxidant production by the pathogen may be a way to protect the plant host, in interactions with necrotrophs such as C. heterostrophus which seem to thrive in an oxidant environment.