Abstract
The Fusarium genus of fungi is responsible for commercially devastating crop diseases and the contamination of cereals with harmful mycotoxins. Fusarium mycotoxins aid infection, establishment, and spread of the fungus within the host plant. We investigated the effects of the Fusarium mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) on the viability of Arabidopsis cells. Although it is known to trigger apoptosis in animal cells, DON treatment at low concentrations surprisingly did not kill these cells. On the contrary, we found that DON inhibited apoptosis-like programmed cell death (PCD) in Arabidopsis cells subjected to abiotic stress treatment in a manner independent of mitochondrial cytochrome c release. This suggested that Fusarium may utilise mycotoxins to suppress plant apoptosis-like PCD. To test this, we infected Arabidopsis cells with a wild type and a DON-minus mutant strain of F. graminearum and found that only the DON producing strain could inhibit death induced by heat treatment. These results indicate that mycotoxins may be capable of disarming plant apoptosis-like PCD and thereby suggest a novel way that some fungi can influence plant cell fate.
Highlights
Fusarium fungi cause some of the most commercially devastating diseases of rice, corn, barley, wheat and other food crops, and as a result world agriculture suffers massive produce loss each year
A 2003 investigation on the occurrence of Fusarium mycotoxins led by the European Union (EU) Scientific Cooperation project showed that 61% of 6,358 wheat samples studied were contaminated with the Fusarium mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) at levels often exceeding the maximal permissible limit of 1,750 mg/kg set by EU regulations [3]
By infecting cell cultures with either a DON-producing strain or a DON-minus strain of F. graminearum, we have demonstrated that the fungus can inhibit apoptosis-like programmed cell death (PCD) induced by heat treatment but only when it has the capability to produce the mycotoxin
Summary
Fusarium fungi cause some of the most commercially devastating diseases of rice, corn, barley, wheat and other food crops, and as a result world agriculture suffers massive produce loss each year. Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease of wheat and barley caused direct and secondary economic losses of around $2.7 billion in the central United States between 1998 and 2000 [1,2]. Many studies in animal systems have established a relationship between DON and programmed cell death (PCD), for example DON induced an apoptotic death when added to human intestinal and erythroleukemia cell lines [6,7]. The PCDinducing effects of DON might not be purely down to an arrest of protein synthesis [8]. DON treatment of Jurkat human T-lymphoid cell lines resulted in the activation of a ribotoxic stress response and signalling cascade, which can lead to apoptotic PCD [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
