title: Transcriptomic analysis of two Beauveria bassiana strains grown on cuticle extracts of the silkworm uncovers their different metabolic response at early infection stage.
abstract: Beauveria bassiana is an important entomopathogenic fungus which not only widely distributes in the environment but also shows phenotypic diversity. However, the mechanism of pathogenic differences among natural B. bassiana strains has not been revealed at transcriptome-wide level. In the present study, in order to explore the mechanism, two B. bassiana strains with different pathogenicity were isolated from silkworms (Bombyx mori L.) and selected to analyze the gene expression of early stage by culturing on cuticle extracts of the silkworm and using RNA-sequencing technique. A total of 2108 up-regulated and 1115 down-regulated genes were identified in B. bassiana strain GXsk1011 (hyper-virulent strain) compared with B. bassiana strain GXtr1009 (hypo-virulent strain), respectively. The function categorization of differential expressed genes (DEGs) showed that most of them involved in metabolic process, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, catalytic activity, and some involved in nutrition uptake, adhesion and host defense were also noted. Based on our data, distinct pathogenicity among different strains of B. bassiana may largely attribute to unique gene expression pattern which differed at very early infection process. Most of the genes involved in conidia adhesion, cuticle degradation and fungal growth were up-regulated in hyper-virulent B. bassiana strain GXsk1011. Furthermore, in combination with fungal growth analysis, our research provided a clue that fungal growth may also play an important role during early infection process. The results will help to explain why different B. bassiana strains show distinct pathogenicity on the same host even under same condition. Moreover, the transcriptome data were also useful for screening potential virulence factors.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China; Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Science, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei 442000, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Jie
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Wen
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Yuan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Ting-Ting
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Ren-Hua
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Hui
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Bao-Ling
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Invertebrate Pathology and Applied Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. Electronic address: canbl3312@126.com.
authors.forename: Yong-Ji
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052982:Beauveria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D012831:Bombyx / Q000382:microbiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005800:Genes, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D059467:Transcriptome; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Beauveria bassiana; Differential expression genes; RNA-Seq; Silkworm; Transcriptomic difference; Virulence