Pathogenicity of monokaryotic and dikaryotic mycelia of Ganoderma boninense revealed via LC–MS-based metabolomics

Abstract

This study compared the pathogenicity of monokaryotic (monokaryon) and dikaryotic (dikaryon) mycelia of the oil palm pathogen Ganoderma boninense via metabolomics approach. Ethyl acetate crude extracts of monokaryon and dikaryon were analysed by liquid chromatography quadrupole/time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (LC-Q/TOF–MS) coupled with multivariate data analysis using MetaboAnalyst. The mummichog algorithm was also used to identify the functional activities of monokaryon and dikaryon without a priori identification of all their secondary metabolites. Results revealed that monokaryon produced lesser fungal metabolites than dikaryon, suggesting that monokaryon had a lower possibility of inducing plant infection. These findings were further supported by the identified functional activities. Monokaryon exhibits tyrosine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan metabolism, which are important for fungal growth and development and to produce toxin precursors. In contrast, dikaryon exhibits the metabolism of cysteine and methionine, arginine and proline, and phenylalanine, which are important for fungal growth, development, virulence, and pathogenicity. As such, monokaryon is rendered non-pathogenic as it produces growth metabolites and toxin precursors, whereas dikaryon is pathogenic as it produces metabolites that are involved in fungal growth and pathogenicity. The LC–MS-based metabolomics approach contributes significantly to our understanding of the pathogenesis of Ganoderma boninense, which is essential for disease management in oil palm plantations.

Transcriptome Sequencing and Analysis of Trichoderma polysporum Infection in Avena fatua L. Leaves before and after Infection

“…During the three periods, the phenylalanine biosynthesis pathway was significantly enriched, indicating that phenylalanine plays an important role in the pathogenicity of T. polysporum HZ-31, and it may be a precursor to the synthesis of T. polysporum HZ-31 herbicidal active substances. This is consistent with the results of Santiago et al's study, which showed that the metabolic process of Ganoderma boninense is mainly enriched in the biosynthesis pathway of phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan, and that this pathway plays an important role in the growth and development of Ganoderma boninense and toxin synthesis [20]. The theoretical pathway for the microbial production of phenylalanine from glucose involves glucose first generating phosphoenolpyruvic acid and erythrose 4-phosphate via the glycolysis pathway and the pentose phosphate pathway, respectively, which then enters the mangiferic acid pathway to generate mangiferic acid, and phenylalanine is finally generated from mangiferic acid [21].…”