Abstract
Beauveria bassiana, as a well-studied entomopathogenic fungus, has a great potential for the biological control of insect pests. Lipid metabolism has been linked to the life cycle of B. bassiana; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, a homolog of yeast steryl acetyl hydrolase 1 (Say1) was functionally characterized. The loss of B. bassianaSAY1 (BbSAY1) impaired the lipid homeostasis in conidia, with a significant reduction in oleic acid content. The ΔBbsay1 mutant strain displayed anelevated accumulation of lipid bodies and aweakened membrane permeability. As for phenotypic aspects, gene loss resulted in significant defects in germination, conidiation, and virulence. Our findings highlight that Say1, involved in lipid homeostasis, contributes to the cytomembrane integrity, development, and virulence in B. bassiana.
Highlights
Beauveria bassiana is one of the most prevalent insect pathogens in the eco-system and has great potential for the biological control of pests [1,2]
This study has revealed that the ortholog of yeast steryl hydrolase 1 (Say1) contributes to lipid homeostasis, which is required for development and acetyl hydrolase (Say1)
Considering the steryl acetyl hydrolase 1 (Say1) role in sterol homeostasis [23], our findings further suggest that there might exist an interaction between triacylglycerol and sterol homeostasis
Summary
Beauveria bassiana is one of the most prevalent insect pathogens in the eco-system and has great potential for the biological control of pests [1,2]. The major form of infectious cells, germinate and ingress the host body through the trans-cuticular route. Fungal cells undergo replication and overcome the host defense [3,4]. Hyphae grow outside the host body and produce a lot of conidia on the cadaver. In B. bassiana, conidia form on the ‘zig-zag’-shaped conidiophores and accumulate a plethora of fatty acids (FAs) and lipids [6,7]. Oleic acid (OA) is an important unsaturated FA in fungal cells and is synthesized through the OLE pathway, in which the ∆9-fatty acid desaturase gene (Ole1) catalyzes the desaturation of palmitic acid (PA), critical for the synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids [10]. In B. bassiana, the OLE pathway contributes to conidial storage of OA and is transcriptionally regulated by
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