Phytophthora capsici sterol reductase PcDHCR7 has a role in mycelium development and pathogenicity

• Published in: Open biology Vol. 12; no. 4; p. 210282
• Main Authors: Wang, Weizhen, Zhang, Fan, Zhang, Sicong, Xue, Zhaolin, Xie, Linfang, Govers, Francine, Liu, Xili
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 01-04-2022
• Subjects: DHCR7; Mycelium - metabolism; mycelium development; oomycete; Oxidoreductases; Phytophthora; Phytophthora - genetics; Plant Diseases - genetics; reductase; sterol; Sterols - metabolism; Virulence; oomycete; reductase; mycelium development; DHCR7; Phytophthora; sterol
• ISSN: 2046-2441; 2046-2441
• DOI: 10.1098/rsob.210282

The
biosynthesis of sterols is critical for the majority of eukaryotes; however, some organisms lack this pathway, including most oomycetes.
spp. are sterol auxotrophic but, remarkably, have retained a few genes encoding enzymes in the sterol biosynthesis pathway. Here, we show that
a gene in
predicted to encode Δ7-sterol reductase, displays multiple functions. When expressed in
, PcDHCR7 showed the Δ7-sterol reductase activity. Knocking out
in
resulted in loss of the capacity to transform ergosterol into brassicasterol, which means PcDHCR7 has the Δ7-sterol reductase activity in
itself
This enables
to transform sterols recruited from the environment for better use. The biological characteristics of
transformants were compared with those of the wild-type strain and a
complemented transformant, and the results showed that
plays a key role in mycelium development and pathogenicity of zoospores. Further analysis of the transcriptome indicated that the expression of many genes changed in the
transformant, which involve in different biological processes. It is possible that
compensates for the defects caused by the loss of
by remodelling its transcriptome.