title: PsAAT3, an oomycete-specific aspartate aminotransferase, is required for full pathogenicity of the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora sojae.
abstract: Pathogen nutrient acquisition and metabolism are critical for successful infection and colonization. However, the nutrient requirements and metabolic pathways related to pathogenesis in oomycete pathogens are unknown. In this study, we bioinformatically identified Phytophthora sojae aspartate aminotransferases (AATs), which are key enzymes that coordinate carbon and nitrogen metabolism. We demonstrated that P. sojae encodes more AATs than the analysed fungi. Some of the AATs contained additional prephenate dehydratase and/or prephenate dehydrogenase domains in their N-termini, which are unique to oomycetes. Silencing of PsAAT3, an infection-inducible expression gene, reduced P. sojae pathogenicity on soybean plants and affected the growth under N-starving condition, suggesting that PsAAT3 is involved in pathogen pathogenicity and nitrogen utilisation during infection. Our results suggest that P. sojae and other oomycete pathogens may have distinct amino acid metabolism pathways and that PsAAT3 is important for its full pathogenicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Rongbo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Meixiang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Xiong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Suomeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China. Electronic address: ddou@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Daolong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dou
mesh_terms: D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D010838:Phytophthora / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D000072417:Protein Domains; D013025:Glycine max / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Amino acid metabolism; Aspartate aminotransferase; Oomycetes; Phytophthora