title: Adenylate cyclase orthologues in two filamentous entomopathogens contribute differentially to growth, conidiation, pathogenicity, and multistress responses.
abstract: Adenylate cyclase (AC) is a core element of cAMP signalling network. Here we show functional diversity and differentiation of Beauveria bassiana AC (BbAC) and Metarhizium robertsii AC (MrAC). Severe growth defects occurred in ΔBbAC and ΔMrAC grown on nutrition-rich SDAY and several minimal media but were largely alleviated by adding cAMP to SDAY. Conidial yield increased greatly in ΔBbAC but decreased in ΔMrAC. During colony growth, ΔBbAC was highly sensitive to oxidation, high osmolarity, cell wall perturbation, carbendazim fungicide, Mn(2+), Zn(2+), Fe(3+), and EDTA but more tolerant to Cu(2+) while ΔMrAC showed higher osmotolerance, decreased sensitivity to Fe(3+), and null response to carbendazim or cell wall stress despite similar responses to oxidation and other metal ions. Conidial UV-B resistance decreased by 32% in ΔBbAC and 22% in ΔMrAC despite little change in their theromotolerance. Median lethal time (LT50) estimates of ΔBbAC and ΔMrAC against susceptible insects were 10.9 and 1.4 d longer than those from wild-type strains respectively. All the phenotypic changes were restored to wild-type levels by each gene complementation. Taken together, BbAC and MrAC regulated differentially conidiation, pathogenicity, and multistress responses in B. bassiana and M. robertsii, thereby making different contributions to their biocontrol potential.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sheng-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: mgfeng@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ming-Guang
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D052982:Beauveria / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D005658:Fungi / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology; D052981:Metarhizium / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D050296:Microbial Viability; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases
keywords: Asexual development; Biocontrol potential; Entomopathogenic fungi; Functional differentiation