The H4K20 methyltransferase Kmt5 is involved in secondary metabolism and stress response in phytopathogenic Fusarium species

Simone Bachleitner, Michael Sulyok, Jens Laurids Sørensen, Joseph Strauss, Lena Studt*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)
82 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Fusarium fujikuroi and Fusarium graminearum are agronomically important plant pathogens, both infecting important staple food plants and thus leading to huge economic losses worldwide. F. fujikuroi belongs to the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex (FFSC) and causes bakanae disease on rice, whereas F. graminearum, a member of the Fusarium graminearum species complex (FGSC), is the causal agent of Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) disease on wheat, barley and maize. In recent years, the importance of chromatin regulation became evident in the plant-pathogen interaction. Several processes, including posttranslational modifications of histones, have been described as regulators of virulence and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. In this study, we have functionally characterised methylation of lysine 20 histone 4 (H4K20me) in both Fusarium species. We identified the respective genes solely responsible for H4K20 mono-, di- and trimethylation in F. fujikuroi (FfKMT5) and F. graminearum (FgKMT5). We show that loss of Kmt5 affects colony growth in F. graminearum while this is not the case for F. fujikuroi. Similarly, FgKmt5 is required for full virulence in F. graminearum as Δfgkmt5 is hypovirulent on wheat, whereas the F. fujikuroi Δffkmt5 strain did not deviate from the wild type during rice infection. Lack of Kmt5 had distinct effects on the secondary metabolism in both plant pathogens with the most pronounced effects on fusarin biosynthesis in F. fujikuroi and zearalenone biosynthesis in F. graminearum. Next to this, loss of Kmt5 resulted in an increased tolerance towards oxidative and osmotic stress in both species.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103602
JournalFungal Genetics and Biology
Volume155
ISSN1087-1845
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors

Keywords

  • Chromatin modification
  • Fusarium
  • H4K20me3
  • Histone methylation
  • Secondary metabolism
  • Stress response

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The H4K20 methyltransferase Kmt5 is involved in secondary metabolism and stress response in phytopathogenic Fusarium species'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this