title: Metabolic Conservation and Diversification ofMetarhiziumSpecies Correlate with Fungal Host-Specificity.
abstract: The ascomycete genusMetarhiziumcontains several species of insect pathogenic fungi ranging from specialists with narrow host ranges to generalists that can infect diverse invertebrates. Genetic and metabolic conservations and diversifications ofMetarhiziumspecies are not well understood. In this study, using the genome information of sevenMetarhiziumspecies, we performed a comparative analysis of gene clusters involved in secondary metabolisms (SMs) in these species. The results revealed that the generalist species contain more SM gene clusters than the specialists, and that both conserved and divergent evolutions may have occurred in SM genes during fungal speciation. In particular, the loss/gain events, as well as gene mutagenesis, are evident for the gene cluster responsible for the biosynthesis of non-ribosomal cyclopeptide destruxins. The presence of conserved SM gene clusters inMetarhiziumand other divergently evolved insect pathogenic fungi implies their link to fungal entomopathogenicity. Mass spectrometry based metabolomic analyses were also conducted to investigate the chemical diversities of sevenMetarhiziumspecies. Consistent with the evolutionary relationships of SM genes among the seven species, significant differences are observed in fungal metabolic profiles, whether the same or different metabolites are produced in different species. Clustering analysis based on the metabolome data revealed thatMetarhiziumspecies could be grouped based on their association to fungal host specificity. Our metabolomics-based methods also facilitate the identification of bioactive metabolites that have not been reported previously inMetarhizium. The results of this study will benefit future investigations of the chemical biology of insect-fungal interactions.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Jiang
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yanfang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chengshu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Metarhizium; divergent evolution; gene clusters; insect host adaptation; metabolomics; secondary metabolism