Identification and Functional Analysis of NLP-Encoding Genes from the Postharvest Pathogen Penicillium expansum

• Published in: Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 7; no. 6; p. 175
• Main Authors: Levin, Elena, Raphael, Ginat, Ma, Jing, Ballester, Ana-Rosa, Feygenberg, Oleg, Norelli, John, Aly, Radi, Gonzalez-Candelas, Luis, Wisniewski, Michael, Droby, Samir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15-06-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Amino acids; Apoptosis; apple; Bacteria; blue mold; Cytotoxicity; Effectors; Enzymes; Flowers & plants; Fruits; Functional analysis; Fungi; Genes; Genomes; Immune system; Infections; Liquid culture; Microorganisms; Necrosis; Nep1; Pathogenicity; Pathogens; Penicillium expansum; Peptides; Phylogenetics; Plant tissues; Proteins; Spores; Virulence; apple; pathogenicity; effectors; blue mold; virulence; Nep1
• ISSN: 2076-2607; 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms7060175

is a major postharvest pathogen that infects different fruits, mainly through injuries inflicted during harvest or subsequent handling after harvest. Several effectors were suggested to mediate pathogenicity of
in fruit tissue. Among these effectors Nep1-like proteins (NLPs), produced by various microorganisms with different lifestyles, are known for their ability to induce necrosis in dicot plants and were shown to be involved in virulence of several plant-related pathogens. This study was aimed at the identification and functional characterization of two NLP genes found in the genome of
. The genes were designated
and
and were found to code type1 and type3 NLP respectively. Necrosis-inducing activity of the two proteins was demonstrated by transient expression in
leaves. While
expression was induced during apple infection and in liquid culture, the highest level of
expression was found in ungerminated spores. Deletion of
, but not
, resulted in reduced virulence on apples manifested by reduced rate of lesion development (disease severity).