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Research Progress

Plants Transfer Lipids to Sustain Colonization by Mutualistic Mycorrhizal and Parasitic Fungi

Jun 12, 2017

Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) formation is a widespread symbiotic interaction between 80-90% of land plants and soil fungi. The plant benefits from enhanced inorganic nutrient supply mediated by the fungal hyphae network in the soil. In return, from the plant, the fungi draw organic nutrients which are thought to be supplied primarily in the form of sugars. However, within the fungus, most carbon is stored in lipids that are transported throughout the mycelium.

Prof. WANG Ertao and his colleagues at Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) reported that the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis is a fatty acid auxotroph and fatty acids synthesized in the host plant are transferred to the fungus during AM symbiosis. The study was published online in Science.

Researchers found that the transfer is dependent on the Required for Arbuscular Mycorrhization 2 (RAM2) and peri-arbuscular membrane-localized ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter-mediated plant lipid export pathway. They further proved that fatty acids synthesized in plants also can be transferred to the pathogenic fungus Golovinomyces cichoracerum and plants defective in fatty acid biosynthesis are impaired in AM symbiosis and show defects in colonization by the pathogenic G. cichoracerum.

Overall, this novel mechanism of the mutualistic mycorrhizal revealed that pathogenic fungi similarly recruit the fatty acid biosynthesis program to facilitate host invasion, and regulating fatty acid availability to fungus might provide an effective tool to control pathogenic fungus infection in crops.

The study was supported by the 973 National Key Basic Research Program in China, the Ministry of Agriculture of China for Transgenic Research, the Natural Science Foundation of China, and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation.

Figure: A new model shows that host plants synthesize fatty acid and transfer to AM fungus by STR/STR2 transporter. (Image by Dr. WANG’s lab)

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