The oomycete Lagenisma coscinodisci hijacks host alkaloid synthesis during infection of a marine diatom

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 4938 - 8
• Main Authors: Vallet, Marine, Baumeister, Tim U. H., Kaftan, Filip, Grabe, Veit, Buaya, Anthony, Thines, Marco, Svatoš, Aleš, Pohnert, Georg
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 30-10-2019; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14/34; 14/63; 140/58; 631/326/171/1878; 631/326/421; 631/326/88; 631/92/604; Algae; Alkaloids; Alkaloids - metabolism; Carbolines - metabolism; Cell Division; Confocal microscopy; Diatoms - metabolism; Diatoms - parasitology; Host-Parasite Interactions; Humanities and Social Sciences; Infections; Infections - metabolism; Lagenisma coscinodisci; Metabolome; Microscopy, Confocal; multidisciplinary; Multiplication; Oomycetes - metabolism; Oomycetes - physiology; Plasmolysis; Principal Component Analysis; Scanning microscopy; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Single-Cell Analysis; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12908-w

Flagellated oomycetes frequently infect unicellular algae, thus limiting their proliferation. Here we show that the marine oomycete
Lagenisma coscinodisci
rewires the metabolome of the bloom-forming diatom
Coscinodiscus granii
, thereby promoting infection success. The algal alkaloids β-carboline and 2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-1H-β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid are induced during infection. Single-cell profiling with AP-MALDI-MS and confocal laser scanning microscopy reveals that algal carbolines accumulate in the reproductive form of the parasite. The compounds arrest the algal cell division, increase the infection rate and induce plasmolysis in the host. Our results indicate that the oomycete manipulates the host metabolome to support its own multiplication.
Flagellated oomycetes frequently infect unicellular algae, thus limiting their proliferation. Here, the authors show that an oomycete rewires the metabolome of a marine bloom-forming diatom, thereby promoting infection success.