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Comparative transcriptome analysis to unveil genes affecting the host cuticle destruction in Metarhizium rileyi

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Abstract

Insect pathogenic fungi, also known as entomopathogenic fungi, are one of the largest insect pathogenic microorganism communities, represented by Beauveria spp. and Metarhizium spp. Entomopathogenic fungi have been proved to be a great substitute for chemical pesticide in agriculture. In fact, a lot of functional genes were also already characterized in entomopathogenic fungi, but more depth of exploration is still needed to reveal their complicated pathogenic mechanism to insects. Metarhizium rileyi (Nomuraea rileyi) is a great potential biocontrol fungus that can parasitize more than 40 distinct species (mainly Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to cause large-scale infectious diseases within insect population. In this study, a comparative analysis of transcriptome profile was performed with topical inoculation and hemolymph injection to character the infectious pattern of M. rileyi. Appressorium and multiple hydrolases are indispensable constituents to break the insect host primary cuticle defense in entomopathogenic fungi. Within our transcriptome data, numerous transcripts related to destruction of insect cuticle rather growth regulations were obtained. Most importantly, some unreported ribosomal protein genes and novel unannotated protein (hypothetical protein) genes were proved to participate in the course of pathogenic regulation. Our current data provide a higher efficiency gene library for virulence factors screen in M. rileyi, and this library may be also useful for furnishing valuable information on entomopathogenic fungal pathogenic mechanisms to host.

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Funding

This work was supported by Department of Science and Technology Planning Project of Henan Province (Nos. 222102110102, 222102110015 and 222102320365), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 3220151928), and the Scientific Research Support Project of Zhoukou Normal University (ZKNUC2021049, ZKNUC2021050 and ZKNUC2020045).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou, 466001, People’s Republic of China

    Liqin Fan, Xinxin Li, Hongli Li, Bingjie Li, Jiahui Wang, Le He & Yunlong Lin

  2. Chongqing Precision Medical Industry Technology Research Institute, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

    Yunlong Lin

  3. Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Fungal Insecticide, School of Life Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

    Zhongkang Wang

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  1. Liqin Fan
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Contributions

YL, ZW and LF designed the experiments; XL, BL, JW and LH conducted the experiments under the supervision of YL, ZW and LF; YL and HL wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yunlong Lin.

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Fan, L., Li, X., Li, H. et al. Comparative transcriptome analysis to unveil genes affecting the host cuticle destruction in Metarhizium rileyi. Curr Genet 69, 253–265 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-023-01274-2

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