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Fungal pathogenesis

Fungal communication gets volatile

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 7, page 6 (2009)Cite this article

Previous studies of a strain of F. oxysporum isolated from soils in north-western Italy that naturally limit the incidence of Fusarium wilts established that its antagonistic effects depend on its association with a range of ectosymbiotic bacteria. In this follow-up study, the authors sought to identify the method of communication between different fungal strains and determine the role of VOCs in this interaction.

The authors first compared the VOC profiles of the wild-type antagonistic strain and a pathogenic strain ('cured' of its bacteria) of F. oxysporum using static headspace solid-phase microextraction assays, and found that they were substantially different. The sesquiterpenes are a class of VOC that have previously been associated with plant–fungus communication and antifungal activity. It was not surprising, therefore, that sesquiterpenes predominated in the volatiles of the wild-type, but not the cured, strain. Minerdi and colleagues then investigated the effect of VOCs on pathogenic strains by co-cultivating wild-type and cured isolates and comparing radial growth after 4 and 5 days, and found that VOCs from the wild-type strain reduced the mycelial growth of both the cured strain and other pathogenic strains. In hydrophobicity tests, the surfaces of hyphae grown in the presence of VOCs were found to be hydrophilic, which is a characteristic of non-pathogenicity. Together, these observations indicate that VOCs, and in particular sesquiterpenes, are responsible for F. oxysporum antagonism.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Minerdi, D., Bossi, S., Gullino, M. L. & Garibaldi, A. Volatile organic compounds: a potential direct long-distance mechanism for antagonistic action of Fusarium oxysporum strain MSA. Environ. Microbiol. 12 Nov 2008 (doi: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01805.x)

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  1. Gillian Young
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Young, G. Fungal communication gets volatile. Nat Rev Microbiol 7, 6 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2064

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2064

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