Abstract
Some bacteria can feed on fungi, a phenomenon known as mycophagy. Here we show that a prophage tail-like protein (Bg_9562) is essential for mycophagy in Burkholderia gladioli strain NGJ1. The purified protein causes hyphal disintegration and inhibits growth of several fungal species. Disruption of the Bg_9562 gene abolishes mycophagy. Bg_9562 is a potential effector secreted by a type III secretion system (T3SS) and is translocated into fungal mycelia during confrontation. Heterologous expression of Bg_9562 in another bacterial species, Ralstonia solanacearum, confers mycophagous ability in a T3SS-dependent manner. We propose that the ability to feed on fungi conferred by Bg_9562 may help the bacteria to survive in certain ecological niches. Furthermore, considering its broad-spectrum antifungal activity, the protein may be potentially useful in biotechnological applications to control fungal diseases.
Highlights
Some bacteria can feed on fungi, a phenomenon known as mycophagy
Our results indicate that a prophage tail-like protein and a T3SS are required for this mycophagous ability
After a week of confrontation with R. solani, NGJ1 was found growing over the fungal biomass (Fig. 1a, Supplementary Fig. 1a)
Summary
Some bacteria can feed on fungi, a phenomenon known as mycophagy. Here we show that a prophage tail-like protein (Bg_9562) is essential for mycophagy in Burkholderia gladioli strain NGJ1. It was observed that NGJ1 treatment suppressed growth of pre-grown mycelia and caused reduction in fungal biomass (Supplementary Fig. 4a, b). It gets translocated into R. solani mycelia as we could detect the protein in NGJ1-treated mycelia (Supplementary Fig. 11a).
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