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Plant–Fungal Interactions
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Plant–Fungal Interactions

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2018) | Viewed by 29250

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dilip Shah

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO 63132, USA
Interests: antimicrobial peptides; mechanisms of action of plant defensins; plant–fungal interactions; engineering resistance to fungal pathogens; agricultural biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant–fungal interactions are of fundamental importance in world agriculture. These interactions are either symbiotic or pathogenic. Beneficial plant-colonizing fungi deliver benefits to their hosts by promoting growth, producing secondary metabolites and enhancing resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Molecular mechanisms governing intimate assosciation of endophytic fungi wth plants and deterministic factors that enhance plant growth and provide protection against invading pathogens are exciting areas of research. In contrast, diseases caused by fungal pathogens constitute a major threat to crop yield and food security. Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which fungal pathogens cause disease, subvert plant immune systems, and divert plant developmental and metabolic processes is crucial for development of new antifungal strategies. From the fungal pathogen’s perspective, identification of key virulence factors which allow the pathogen to cause disease or to escape detection by plant’s immune system is important.  Conversely, from the plant perspective, it is important to elucidate the mechanisms by which plants recognize and respond to fungal pathogens. With several fungal and plant genomes being sequenced and assembled, the impact of functional genomics for building our knowledge of how the plant’s immune system is able to discriminate between the beneficial and harmful fungi will increase in near future. With continuous progress being made toward mechanistic understanding of plant–fungal interactions,  new strategies for crop protection are emerging at an increasingly rapid pace.

In this Special Issue, we invite front-line researchers and authors to submit original research and review articles that explore “Fundamental and Translational Research in Plant–Fungal Interactions”. The potential topics include, but are not limited to:  

  • Fungal virulence effectors
  • Functional genomics of fungal virulence  
  • Plant defense mechanisms
  • Fungal resistance genes
  • Antifungal strategies
  • Genetic engineering of fungal resistance
  • Plant and fungal factors regulating symbiotic plant-fungal associations
  • Mechanisms of induced systemic resistance by beneficial fungi
  •  Harnessing beneficial fungi as biocontrol agents

Dr. Dilip Shah
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fungal pathogens
  • beneficial endophytic fungi
  • mechanisms of fungal virulence
  • mechanisms of disease resistance
  • genetic engineering for disease resistance
  • biocontrol

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 4156 KiB  
Article
The Role of Sugarcane Catalase Gene ScCAT2 in the Defense Response to Pathogen Challenge and Adversity Stress
by Tingting Sun, Feng Liu, Wenju Wang, Ling Wang, Zhuqing Wang, Jing Li, Youxiong Que, Liping Xu and Yachun Su
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(9), 2686; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19092686 - 10 Sep 2018
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4273
Abstract
Catalases, which consist of multiple structural isoforms, catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in cells to prevent membrane lipid peroxidation. In this study, a group II catalase gene ScCAT2 (GenBank Accession No. KF528830) was isolated from sugarcane genotype Yacheng05-179. ScCAT2 encoded a predicted [...] Read more.
Catalases, which consist of multiple structural isoforms, catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in cells to prevent membrane lipid peroxidation. In this study, a group II catalase gene ScCAT2 (GenBank Accession No. KF528830) was isolated from sugarcane genotype Yacheng05-179. ScCAT2 encoded a predicted protein of 493 amino acid residues, including a catalase active site signature (FARERIPERVVHARGAS) and a heme-ligand signature (RVFAYADTQ). Subcellular localization experiments showed that the ScCAT2 protein was distributed in the cytoplasm, plasma membrane, and nucleus of Nicotiana benthamiana epidermal cells. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis indicated that the ScCAT2 gene was ubiquitously expressed in sugarcane tissues, with expression levels from high to low in stem skin, stem pith, roots, buds, and leaves. ScCAT2 mRNA expression was upregulated after treatment with abscisic acid (ABA), sodium chloride (NaCl), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and 4 °C low temperature, but downregulated by salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and copper chloride (CuCl2). Moreover, tolerance of Escherichia coli Rosetta cells carrying pET-32a-ScCAT2 was enhanced by NaCl stress, but not by CuCl2 stress. Sporisorium scitamineum infection of 10 different sugarcane genotypes showed that except for YZ03-258, FN40, and FN39, ScCAT2 transcript abundance in four smut-resistant cultivars (Yacheng05-179, YZ01-1413, YT96-86, and LC05-136) significantly increased at the early stage (1 day post-inoculation), and was decreased or did not change in the two smut-medium-susceptibility cultivars (ROC22 and GT02-467), and one smut-susceptible cultivar (YZ03-103) from 0 to 3 dpi. Meanwhile, the N. benthamiana leaves that transiently overexpressed ScCAT2 exhibited less severe disease symptoms, more intense 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) staining, and higher expression levels of tobacco immune-related marker genes than the control after inoculation with tobacco pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum or Fusarium solani var. coeruleum. These results indicate that ScCAT2 plays a positive role in immune responses during plant–pathogen interactions, as well as in salt, drought, and cold stresses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Fungal Interactions)
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16 pages, 1522 KiB  
Article
Effects of Funneliformis mosseae on Root Metabolites and Rhizosphere Soil Properties to Continuously-Cropped Soybean in the Potted-Experiments
by Jia-Qi Cui, Hai-Bing Sun, Ming-Bo Sun, Rui-Ting Liang, Wei-Guang Jie and Bai-Yan Cai
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(8), 2160; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19082160 - 24 Jul 2018
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4480
Abstract
Continuous cropping in soybean is increasingly practiced in Heilongjiang Province, leading to substantial yield reductions and quality degradation. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are soil microorganisms that form mutualistic interactions with plant roots and can restore the plant rhizosphere microenvironment. In this study, two [...] Read more.
Continuous cropping in soybean is increasingly practiced in Heilongjiang Province, leading to substantial yield reductions and quality degradation. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are soil microorganisms that form mutualistic interactions with plant roots and can restore the plant rhizosphere microenvironment. In this study, two soybean lines (HN48 and HN66) were chosen as experimental materials, which were planted in different years of continuous cropping soybean soils and were inoculated or not with Funneliformis mosseae in potted-experiments. Ultimately, analysis of root tissue metabolome and root exudates, soil physicochemical properties, plant biomass, as well as rhizosphere soil properties in different experimental treatments, inoculated or not with F. mosseae, was performed. Experimental results showed that: (a) The disease index of soybean root rot was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group, and there were differences in disease index and the resistance effect of F. mosseae between the two cultivars; (b) compared with the control, the root tissue metabolome and root exudates remained unchanged, but there were changes in the relative amounts in the treatment group, and the abundant metabolites differed by soybean cultivar; (c) soybean biomass was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group, and the effect of F. mosseae on biomass differed with respect to the soybean cultivar; and (d) there were differences in the physiochemical indexes of soybean rhizosphere soil between the treatment and control groups, and the repairing effect of F. mosseae differed between the two cultivars. Therefore, F. mosseae can increase the biomass of continuously cropped soybean, improve the physicochemical properties of the rhizosphere soil, regulate the root metabolite profiles, and alleviate barriers to continuous cropping in potted-experiments of soybean. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Fungal Interactions)
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16 pages, 6115 KiB  
Article
Development and Characterization of Novel Genic-SSR Markers in Apple-Juniper Rust Pathogen Gymnosporangium yamadae (Pucciniales: Pucciniaceae) Using Next-Generation Sequencing
by Si-Qi Tao, Bin Cao, Cheng-Ming Tian and Ying-Mei Liang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(4), 1178; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19041178 - 12 Apr 2018
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4169
Abstract
The Apple-Juniper rust, Gymnosporangium yamadae, is an economically important pathogen of apples and junipers in Asia. The absence of markers has hampered the study of the genetic diversity of this widespread pathogen. In our study, we developed twenty-two novel microsatellite markers for [...] Read more.
The Apple-Juniper rust, Gymnosporangium yamadae, is an economically important pathogen of apples and junipers in Asia. The absence of markers has hampered the study of the genetic diversity of this widespread pathogen. In our study, we developed twenty-two novel microsatellite markers for G. yamadae from randomly sequenced regions of the transcriptome, using next-generation sequencing methods. These polymorphic markers were also tested on 96 G. yamadae individuals from two geographical populations. The allele numbers ranged from 2 to 9 with an average value of 6 per locus. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.099 to 0.782 with an average value of 0.48. Furthermore, the observed (HO) and expected (HE) heterozygosity ranged from 0.000 to 0.683 and 0.04 to 0.820, respectively. These novel developed microsatellites provide abundant molecular markers for investigating the genetic structure and genetic diversity of G. yamadae, which will help us to better understand disease epidemics and the origin and migration routes of the Apple-Juniper rust pathogen. Further studies will also be completed to dissect how human activities influence the formation of current population structures. Furthermore, these SSR (simple sequence repeat) markers can also be used as tools to identify virulence by mapping the whole genomes of different virulent populations. These markers will, thus, assist the development of effective risk-assessment models and management systems for the Apple-Juniper rust pathogen. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Fungal Interactions)
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Review

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18 pages, 478 KiB  
Review
Colletotrichum higginsianum as a Model for Understanding Host–Pathogen Interactions: A Review
by Yaqin Yan, Qinfeng Yuan, Jintian Tang, Junbin Huang, Tom Hsiang, Yangdou Wei and Lu Zheng
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(7), 2142; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19072142 - 23 Jul 2018
Cited by 47 | Viewed by 7800
Abstract
Colletotrichum higginsianum is a hemibiotrophic ascomycetous fungus that causes economically important anthracnose diseases on numerous monocot and dicot crops worldwide. As a model pathosystem, the Colletotrichum–Arabidopsis interaction has the significant advantage that both organisms can be manipulated genetically. The goal of this review [...] Read more.
Colletotrichum higginsianum is a hemibiotrophic ascomycetous fungus that causes economically important anthracnose diseases on numerous monocot and dicot crops worldwide. As a model pathosystem, the Colletotrichum–Arabidopsis interaction has the significant advantage that both organisms can be manipulated genetically. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of the system and to point out recent significant studies that update our understanding of the pathogenesis of C. higginsianum and resistance mechanisms of Arabidopsis against this hemibiotrophic fungus. The genome sequence of C. higginsianum has provided insights into how genome structure and pathogen genetic variability has been shaped by transposable elements, and allows systematic approaches to longstanding areas of investigation, including infection structure differentiation and fungal–plant interactions. The Arabidopsis-Colletotrichum pathosystem provides an integrated system, with extensive information on the host plant and availability of genomes for both partners, to illustrate many of the important concepts governing fungal–plant interactions, and to serve as an excellent starting point for broad perspectives into issues in plant pathology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Fungal Interactions)
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12 pages, 500 KiB  
Review
Plant MicroRNAs in Cross-Kingdom Regulation of Gene Expression
by Wei Wang, Dan Liu, Xiaopei Zhang, Dongdong Chen, Yingying Cheng and Fafu Shen
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(7), 2007; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19072007 - 10 Jul 2018
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 6795
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding small RNAs, which play a crucial role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Recently, various reports revealed that miRNAs could be transmitted between species to mediate cross-kingdom regulation by integrating into a specific target gene-mediated regulatory pathway to [...] Read more.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding small RNAs, which play a crucial role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Recently, various reports revealed that miRNAs could be transmitted between species to mediate cross-kingdom regulation by integrating into a specific target gene-mediated regulatory pathway to exert relevant biological functions. Some scholars and researchers have observed this as an attractive hypothesis that may provide a foundation for novel approaches in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of disease. Meanwhile, others deem the mentioned results were obtained from a “false positive effect” of performed experiments. Here, we focus on several current studies concerning plant miRNA-mediated cross-kingdom regulation (from both fronts) and discuss the existing issues that need further consideration. We also discuss possible miRNA horizontal transfer mechanisms from one species to another and analyze the relationship between miRNA-mediated cross-kingdom regulation and coevolution during a long-term specific host–pathogen interaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Fungal Interactions)
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