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  • H3K4 trimethylation by CclA regulates pathogenicity and the production of three families of terpenoid secondary metabolites in Colletotrichum higginsianum.

H3K4 trimethylation by CclA regulates pathogenicity and the production of three families of terpenoid secondary metabolites in Colletotrichum higginsianum.

Molecular plant pathology (2019-03-30)
Jean-Félix Dallery, Émilie Adelin, Géraldine Le Goff, Sandrine Pigné, Annie Auger, Jamal Ouazzani, Richard J O'Connell
ABSTRACT

The role of histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation is poorly understood in plant pathogenic fungi. Here, we analysed the function of CclA, a subunit of the COMPASS complex mediating H3K4 methylation, in the brassica anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum. We show that CclA is required for full genome-wide H3K4 trimethylation. The deletion of cclA strongly reduced mycelial growth, asexual sporulation and spore germination but did not impair the morphogenesis of specialized infection structures (appressoria and biotrophic hyphae). Virulence of the ΔcclA mutant on plants was strongly attenuated, associated with a marked reduction in appressorial penetration ability on both plants and inert cellophane membranes. The secondary metabolite profile of the ΔcclA mutant was greatly enriched compared to that of the wild type, with three different families of terpenoid compounds being overproduced by the mutant, namely the colletochlorins, higginsianins and sclerosporide. These included five novel molecules that were produced exclusively by the ΔcclA mutant: colletorin D, colletorin D acid, higginsianin C, 13-epi-higginsianin C and sclerosporide. Taken together, our findings indicate that H3K4 trimethylation plays a critical role in regulating fungal growth, development, pathogenicity and secondary metabolism in C. higginsianum.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Roche
DIG Luminescent Detection Kit, sufficient for 50 blots (10 cm x 10 cm each), kit of 1 (5 components), suitable for hybridization
Sigma-Aldrich
Anti-Rabbit IgG (whole molecule)–Peroxidase antibody produced in goat, affinity isolated antibody
Roche
PCR DIG Probe Synthesis Kit, sufficient for 25 reaction (50 μL final reaction volume)