Abstract
Dihydromaltophilin (heat-stable antifungal factor [HSAF]) is an antifungal metabolite produced in Lysobacter enzymogenes biocontrol strain C3. This compound induces cell wall thickening in Aspergillus nidulans. Here we show that the cell wall thickening is a general response to HSAF in diverse fungal species. In the A. nidulans model, the thickened cell wall negatively affects hyphal growth. Growth of HSAF-pre-treated hyphae failed to resume at hyphal tips with thick cell wall and the actin cable could not re-polarize at the thickened region of the cell wall, even after the treated hyphae were transferred to drug-free medium. Moreover, HSAF-induced cell wall thickening is mediated by sphingolipid synthesis: HSAF failed to induce cell wall thickening in the absence of ceramide synthase BarA and the sphingolipid synthesis inhibitor myriocin was able to suppress HSAF-induced cell wall thickening. The thickened cell wall could be digested by chitinase suggesting that chitin contributes to the HSAF-induced thickening. Furthermore, HSAF treatment activated the transcription of two chitin synthase encoding genes chsB and chsC.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 182-187 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology |
Volume | 56 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2009 |
Keywords
- Ceramide synthase
- Chitin synthase
- Hyphal polarity
- Lysobacter enzymogenes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Microbiology