Conserved secreted effectors contribute to endophytic growth and multihost plant compatibility in a vascular wilt fungus

Amey Redkar, Mugdha Sabale, Christian Schudoma, Bernd Zechmann, Yogesh K. Gupta, Manuel S. López-Berges, Giovanni Venturini, Selena Gimenez-Ibanez, David Turrà, Roberto Solano, Antonio Di Pietro

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fungal interactions with plant roots, either beneficial or detrimental, have a crucial impact on agriculture and ecosystems. The cosmopolitan plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum (Fo) provokes vascular wilts in more than a hundred different crops. Isolates of this fungus exhibit host-specific pathogenicity, which is conferred by lineage-specific Secreted In Xylem (SIX) effectors encoded on accessory genomic regions. However, such isolates also can colonize the roots of other plants asymptomatically as endophytes or even protect them against pathogenic strains. The molecular determinants of endophytic multihost compatibility are largely unknown. Here, we characterized a set of Fo candidate effectors from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) root apoplastic fluid; these early root colonization (ERC) effectors are secreted during early biotrophic growth on main and alternative plant hosts. In contrast to SIX effectors, ERCs have homologs across the entire Fo species complex as well as in other plant-interacting fungi, suggesting a conserved role in fungus–plant associations. Targeted deletion of ERC genes in a pathogenic Fo isolate resulted in reduced virulence and rapid activation of plant immune responses, while ERC deletion in a nonpathogenic isolate led to impaired root colonization and biocontrol ability. Strikingly, some ERCs contribute to Fo infection on the nonvascular land plant Marchantia polymorpha, revealing an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for multihost colonization by root infecting fungi.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3214-3232
Number of pages19
JournalPlant Cell
Volume34
Issue number9
Early online date11 Jun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2022

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