Study of the molecular basis of SUGARWIN action in phytopathogenic fungi

• Grant number: 13/12577-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Márcio de Castro Silva Filho
• Grantee: Flávia Pereira Franco
• Home Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 08/52067-3 - Herbivory and intracellular transport of proteins, AP.BIOEN.TEM

Abstract

In sugarcane fields, colonization of the stalk by opportunistic fungi, such as Fusarium verticillioides and Colletotrichum falcatum, usually occurs after the attack of Diatraea saccharalis caterpillars. Plants respond to pathogens and insect attack by inducing and accumulating a large set of defense proteins. Two homologous of barley wound inducible protein (BARWIN) were identified in sugarcane, SUGARWIN1 and SUGARWIN2 (sugarcane wound-inducible proteins). The induction of SUGARWIN transcripts occurs in response to mechanical injury, D. saccharalis attack and methyl jasmonate treatment, but not by pathogen infection. While transcripts of SUGARWIN genes are strongly increased following insect attack, the protein itself does not show any effect on insect development, rather it altered F. verticillioides and C. falcatum morphology leading to germlings apoptosis. However, it does not affect other fungi, not related to pathogenesis in sugarcane as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus nidulans. The goal of this study is to understand the molecular mechanism of SUGARWIN action in pathogens, which will be analyzed by RNA-seq, besides to understand the mechanism of interaction between these pathogenic fungi and D. saccharalis, since the protein is induced by insect and acts specifically on fungi related to the red rot. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FRANCO, FLAVIA P.; DIAS, RENATA O.; TOYAMA, DANYELLE; HENRIQUE-SILVA, FLDVIO; MOURA, DANIEL S.; SILVA-FILHO, MARCIO C. Structural and Functional Characterization of PR-4 SUGARWINs From Sugarcane and Their Role is Plant Defense. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 9, JAN 7 2019. Web of Science Citations: 1.

FRANCO, FLAVIA P.; MOURA, DANIEL S.; VIVANCO, JORGE M.; SILVA-FILHO, MARCIO C. Plant-insect-pathogen interactions: a naturally complex menage a trois. Current Opinion in Microbiology, v. 37, p. 54-60, JUN 2017. Web of Science Citations: 13.

MEDEIROS, ANE H.; MINGOSSI, FABIANA B.; DIAS, RENATA O.; FRANCO, FLAVIA P.; VICENTINI, RENATO; MELLO, MARCIA O.; MOURA, DANIEL S.; SILVA-FILHO, MARCIO C. Sugarcane Serine Peptidase Inhibitors, Serine Peptidases, and Clp Protease System Subunits Associated with Sugarcane Borer (Diatraea saccharalis) Herbivory and Wounding. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, v. 17, n. 9 SEP 2016. Web of Science Citations: 3.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

FRANCO, Flávia Pereira. Unraveling sugarcane-Diatraea saccharalis-opportunistic fungi interaction in sugarcane. 2017. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz Piracicaba.