我国主要蚧螬对乳状菌的敏感性

我国主要蛴螬种类对乳状菌(Bacillus popilliae Dutky)(以下简称B.p.)敏感性的测定:已有14种蛴螬能注射感染B.p.。超出了Dutky(1963)的记录。敏感寄主毛喙丽金龟(Adoretus hirsutus Ohaus)、四纹丽金龟(Popillia quadriguttata F.)、暗黑鳃金龟(Holotrichia morosa Waterh)、黑棕鳃金龟(Apogonia cupreoviridis Fairm.)的幼虫注射感病率达91.6—100%。E.P.拌种喂食四纹、阔胸犀金龟(Pentodon patruelis Friv.)的幼虫,感病率分别达到68.9%和50%。B.p.拌土喂食阔胸幼虫,感病率为28.5%,田间小区试验,保苗效果达49.5%,虫口减退率达40.0%。定向转主驯化B.p.对华北大黑鳃金龟(Holotrichia oblitaFald.)幼虫,注射感病率已由不感病提高至感染率34.6%。 利用病原微生物防治害虫是综合防治的一个重要环节,应用乳状菌防治金龟子幼虫是以菌治虫方面值得研究的课题之一。 早在本世纪三十年代已发现日本金龟子(Popillia japonicaNewm.)幼虫罹患乳臭病的事实。1940年Dutky首先对其病原菌(B.popilliae)和(B.lentimorbus)进行命名和描述,继之White 1941,Beard 1945等对其生理生化、致病机理等作了较多的研究。五十年代后,对这类菌的超显微结构、离体培养等研究更为广泛。它作为第一个商品化的细菌杀虫剂,美国最早用于防治草地下的日本金龟子幼虫,取得了显著的效果。 我国蛴螬种类在千种以上,在华北、东北、西北的农田里为害十分严重,由于蛴螬的种类多,分布广,因而寄生于蛴螬的乳状菌株也相当丰富。目前已从主要蛴螬种类上陆续分离出一些菌株,将为我国开发利用乳状菌提供资源。近几年来,我们除对我国菌株进行研究外,也做了引进菌种Bacillus popilliae Dutky对我国主要蛴螬敏感性的研究,本文主要报道这方面结果。     

A 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase-based probe for the discovery of the acyltransferase-less type I polyketide synthases

Acyltransferase (AT)-less type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) produce complex natural products due to the presence of many unique tailoring enzymes. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A synthases (HCSs) are responsible for β-alkylation of the growing polyketide intermediates in AT-less type I PKSs. In this study, we discovered a large group of HCSs, closely associated with the characterized and orphan AT-less type I PKSs through in silico genome mining, sequence and genome neighbourhood network analyses. Using HCS-based probes, the survey of 1207 in-house strains and 18 soil samples from different geographic locations revealed the vast diversity of HCS-containing AT-less type I PKSs. The presence of HCSs in many AT-less type I PKSs suggests their co-evolutionary relationship. This study provides a new probe to study the abundance and diversity of AT-less type I PKSs in the environment and microbial strain collections. Our study should inspire future efforts to discover new polyketide natural products from AT-less type I PKSs.     

Diversity of Rhizosphere Soil Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Various Soybean Cultivars under Different Continuous Cropping Regimes

Recent studies have shown that continuous cropping in soybean causes substantial changes to the microbial community in rhizosphere soil. In this study, we investigated the effects of continuous cropping for various time periods on the diversity of rhizosphere soil arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in various soybean cultivars at the branching stage. The soybean cultivars Heinong 37 (an intermediate cultivar), Heinong 44 (a high-fat cultivar) and Heinong 48 (a high-protein cultivar) were seeded in a field and continuously cropped for two or three years. We analyzed the diversity of rhizosphere soil AM fungi of these soybean plants at the branching stage using morphological and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) techniques. The clustering analysis of unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) was then used to investigate the AM fungal community shifts. The results showed that increasing the number of years of continuous cropping can improve the colonization rate of AM fungi in different soybean cultivars at the branching stage. The dominant AM fungi in the experimental fields were Funneliformismosseae and Glomus spp. The number of years of continuous cropping and the soybean cultivar both had obvious effects on the diversity of AM fungi, which was consistent with the results of colonization rate analysis. This study establishes a basis for screening dominant AM fungi of soybean. In addition, the results of this study may be useful for the development of AM fungal inoculants.     

Microtubule-assisted mechanism for toxisome assembly in Fusarium graminearum

In Fusarium graminearum, a trichothecene biosynthetic complex known as the toxisome forms ovoid and spherical structures in the remodelled endoplasmic reticulum (ER) under mycotoxin-inducing conditions. Previous studies also demonstrated that disruption of actin and tubulin results in a significant decrease in deoxynivalenol (DON) biosynthesis in F. graminearum. However, the functional association between the toxisome and microtubule components has not been clearly defined. In this study we tested the hypothesis that the microtubule network provides key support for toxisome assembly and thus facilitates DON biosynthesis. Through fluorescent live cell imaging, knockout mutant generation, and protein–protein interaction assays, we determined that two of the four F. graminearum tubulins, α₁ and β₂ tubulins, are indispensable for DON production. We also showed that these two tubulins are directly associated. When the α₁–β₂ tubulin heterodimer is disrupted, the metabolic activity of the toxisome is significantly suppressed, which leads to significant DON biosynthesis impairment. Similar phenotypic outcomes were shown when F. graminearum wild type was treated with carbendazim, a fungicide that binds to microtubules and disrupts spindle formation. Based on our results, we propose a model where α₁–β₂ tubulin heterodimer serves as the scaffold for functional toxisome assembly in F. graminearum.     

iTRAQ‐Based Proteomics Reveals that the Tomato ms1035 Gene Causes Male Sterility through Compromising Fat Acid Metabolism

So far, over 50 spontaneous male sterile mutants of tomato have been described and most of them are categorized as genetic male sterility. To date, the mechanism of tomato genetic male sterility remained unclear. In this study, differential proteomic analysis is performed between genetic male sterile line (2‐517), which carries the male sterility (ms10³⁵) gene, and its wild‐type (VF‐11) using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification‐based strategy. A total of 8272 proteins are quantified in the 2–517 and VF‐11 lines at the floral bud and florescence stages. These proteins are involved in different cellular and metabolic processes, which express obvious functional tendencies toward the hydroxylation of the ω‐carbon in fatty acids, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the glycolytic, and pentose phosphate pathways. Based on the results, a protein network explaining the mechanisms of tomato genetic male sterility is proposed, finding the compromising fat acid metabolism may cause the male sterility. These results are confirmed by parallel reaction monitoring, quantitative Real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR), and physiological assays. Taken together, these results provide new insights into the metabolic pathway of anther abortion induced by ms10³⁵ and offer useful clues to identify the crucial proteins involved in genetic male sterility in tomato.