title: Spore germination of Trichoderma atroviride is inhibited by its LysM protein TAL6.
abstract: LysM motifs are carbohydrate-binding modules found in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. They have general N-acetylglucosamine binding properties and therefore bind to chitin and related carbohydrates. In plants, plasma-membrane-bound proteins containing LysM motifs are involved in plant defence responses, but also in symbiotic interactions between plants and microorganisms. Filamentous fungi secrete LysM proteins that contain several LysM motifs but no enzymatic modules. In plant pathogenic fungi, for LysM proteins roles in dampening of plant defence responses and protection from plant chitinases were shown. In this study, the carbohydrate-binding specificities and biological function of the LysM protein TAL6 from the plant-beneficial fungus Trichoderma atroviride were investigated. TAL6 contains seven LysM motifs and the sequences of its LysM motifs are very different from other fungal LysM proteins investigated so far. The results showed that TAL6 bound to some forms of polymeric chitin, but not to chito-oligosaccharides. Further, no binding to fungal cell wall preparations was detected. Despite these rather weak carbohydrate-binding properties, a strong inhibitory effect of TAL6 on spore germination was found. TAL6 was shown to specifically inhibit germination of Trichoderma spp., but interestingly not of other fungi. Thus, this protein is involved in self-signalling processes during fungal growth rather than fungal-plant interactions. These data expand the functional repertoire of fungal LysM proteins beyond effectors in plant defence responses and show that fungal LysM proteins are also involved in the self-regulation of fungal growth and development.
authors.affiliation: Research Area Biotechnology and Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria. verena.seidl@tuwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Seidl-Seiboth
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zach
authors.forename: Alexa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frischmann
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Spadiut
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dietzsch
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Herwig
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruth
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodler
authors.forename: Alois
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jungbauer
authors.forename: Christian P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Kubicek
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002686:Chitin / Q000378:metabolism*; D002688:Chitinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D014242:Trichoderma / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D002686:Chitin; D002688:Chitinases