Abstract
Chitosan is a versatile compound with multiple biotechnological applications. This polymer inhibits clinically important human fungal pathogens under the same carbon and nitrogen status as in blood. Chitosan permeabilises their high-fluidity plasma membrane and increases production of intracellular oxygen species (ROS). Conversely, chitosan is compatible with mammalian cell lines as well as with biocontrol fungi (BCF). BCF resistant to chitosan have low-fluidity membranes and high glucan/chitin ratios in their cell walls. Recent studies illustrate molecular and physiological basis of chitosan-root interactions. Chitosan induces auxin accumulation in Arabidopsis roots. This polymer causes overexpression of tryptophan-dependent auxin biosynthesis pathway. It also blocks auxin translocation in roots. Chitosan is a plant defense modulator. Endophytes and fungal pathogens evade plant immunity converting chitin into chitosan. LysM effectors shield chitin and protect fungal cell walls from plant chitinases. These enzymes together with fungal chitin deacetylases, chitosanases and effectors play determinant roles during fungal colonization of plants. This review describes chitosan mode of action (cell and gene targets) in fungi and plants. This knowledge will help to develop chitosan for agrobiotechnological and medical applications.
Highlights
Chitosan is a linear polymer of beta-(1-4)-linked N-acetyl-2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose and 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose subunits (Figure 1) [2]
A membrane protein ARL1 is the main chitosan target in the model yeast S. cerevisiae [63]. These proteins could be chitosan targets in fungi and their study could help to develop chitosan as a drug
Chitosan is compatible with several biocontrol fungi (BCF) (P. chlamydosporia, B. bassiana or Trichoderma spp.)
Summary
Chitosan is a linear polymer of beta-(1-4)-linked N-acetyl-2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose (acetylated) and 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose (deacetylated [1]) subunits (Figure 1) [2]. Partial deacetylation of chitin by enzymatic or chemical processes generates chitosan [3]. Sensitive fungi show energy-dependent plasma membrane permeabilisation by chitosan [37]. This polymer displays antibiotic activity against pathogenic bacteria [23,38,39,40,41]. Recent studies suggest the use of chitosan as antimicrobial for clinical use [42] This polymer kills opportunistic human pathogens such as Fusarium proliferatum and Hamigera avellanea [43]. Deprivation of nutrients modifies cell wall architecture which affects fungal growth [43,45,46,47] To this respect, low branching (glucan content) of fungal cell wall increases sensitivity to chitosan (Figure 2) [11]. G. mellonella is a well-established model host to test
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