Molecular profiling of the Phytophthora plurivora secretome: a step towards understanding the cross-talk between plant pathogenic oomycetes and their hosts

PLoS One. 2014 Nov 5;9(11):e112317. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112317. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying host-pathogen interactions in plant diseases is of crucial importance to gain insights on different virulence strategies of pathogens and unravel their role in plant immunity. Among plant pathogens, Phytophthora species are eliciting a growing interest for their considerable economical and environmental impact. Plant infection by Phytophthora phytopathogens is a complex process coordinated by a plethora of extracellular signals secreted by both host plants and pathogens. The characterization of the repertoire of effectors secreted by oomycetes has become an active area of research for deciphering molecular mechanisms responsible for host plants colonization and infection. Putative secreted proteins by Phytophthora species have been catalogued by applying high-throughput genome-based strategies and bioinformatic approaches. However, a comprehensive analysis of the effective secretome profile of Phytophthora is still lacking. Here, we report the first large-scale profiling of P. plurivora secretome using a shotgun LC-MS/MS strategy. To gain insight on the molecular signals underlying the cross-talk between plant pathogenic oomycetes and their host plants, we also investigate the quantitative changes of secreted protein following interaction of P. plurivora with the root exudate of Fagus sylvatica which is highly susceptible to the root pathogen. We show that besides known effectors, the expression and/or secretion levels of cell-wall-degrading enzymes were altered following the interaction with the host plant root exudate. In addition, a characterization of the F. sylvatica root exudate was performed by NMR and amino acid analysis, allowing the identification of the main released low-molecular weight components, including organic acids and free amino acids. This study provides important insights for deciphering the extracellular network involved in the highly susceptible P. plurivora-F. sylvatica interaction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Fagus / microbiology*
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions*
  • Phytophthora / physiology*
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology*
  • Plant Roots / microbiology*
  • Proteome / genetics
  • Proteome / metabolism*

Substances

  • Proteome

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Technische Universität München within the funding programme Open Access Publishing. The authors acknowledge the European project COST Action FP0801 for supporting researchers cooperation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.