Ustilago maydis induced accumulation of putrescine in maize leaves

Defence Warriors: Exploring the crosstalk between polyamines and oxidative stress during microbial pathogenesis

Microbial infections have been a widely studied area of disease research since historical times, yet they are a cause of severe illness and deaths worldwide. Furthermore, infections by pathogens are not just restricted to humans; instead, a diverse range of hosts, including plants, livestock, marine organisms and fish, cause significant economic losses and pose threats to humans through their transmission in the food chain. It is now believed that both the pathogen and the host contribute to the outcomes of a disease pathology. Researchers have unravelled numerous aspects of host-pathogen interactions, offering valuable insights into the physiological, cellular and molecular processes and factors that contribute to the development of infectious diseases. Polyamines are key factors regulating cellular processes and human ageing and health. However, they are often overlooked in the context of host-pathogen interactions despite playing a dynamic role as a defence molecule from the perspective of the host as well as the pathogen. They form a complex network interacting with several molecules within the cell, with reactive oxygen species being a key component. This review presents a thorough overview of the current knowledge of polyamines and their intricate interactions with reactive oxygen species in the infection of multiple pathogens in diverse hosts. Interestingly, the review covers the interplay of the commensals and pathogen infection involving polyamines and reactive oxygen species, highlighting an unexplored area within this field. From a future perspective, the dynamic interplay of polyamines and oxidative stress in microbial pathogenesis is a fascinating area that widens the scope of developing therapeutic strategies to combat deadly infections.

Intracellular polyamines regulate redox homeostasis with cAMP-PKA signalling during sexual mating/filamentation and pathogenicity of Sporisorium scitamineum

Sugarcane smut caused by Sporisorium scitamineum seriously impairs sugarcane production and quality. Sexual mating/filamentation is a critical step of S. scitamineum pathogenesis, yet the regulatory mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we identified the SsAGA, SsODC, and SsSAMDC genes, which are involved in polyamine biosynthesis in S. scitamineum. Deletion of SsODC led to complete loss of filamentous growth after sexual mating, and deletion of SsAGA or SsSAMDC caused reduced filamentation. Double deletion of SsODC and SsSAMDC resulted in auxotrophy for putrescine (PUT) and spermidine (SPD) when grown on minimal medium (MM), indicating that these two genes encode enzymes that are critical for PUT and SPD biosynthesis. We further showed that low PUT concentrations promoted S. scitamineum filamentation, while high PUT concentrations suppressed filamentation. Disrupted fungal polyamine biosynthesis also resulted in a loss of pathogenicity and reduced fungal biomass within infected plants at the early infection stage. SPD formed a gradient from the diseased part to nonsymptom parts of the cane stem, suggesting that SPD is probably favourable for fungal virulence. Mutants of the cAMP-PKA (SsGPA3-SsUAC1-SsADR1) signalling pathway displayed up-regulation of the SsODC gene and elevated intracellular levels of PUT. SsODC directly interacted with SsGPA3, and sporidia of the ss1uac1ΔodcΔ mutant displayed abundant pseudohyphae. Furthermore, we found that elevated PUT levels caused accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), probably by suppressing transcription of ROS-scavenging enzymes, while SPD played the opposite role. Overall, our work proves that polyamines play important roles in the pathogenic development of sugarcane smut fungus, probably by collaboratively regulating intracellular redox homeostasis with the cAMP-PKA signalling pathway.

Inhibition of polyamine oxidase activity affects tumor development during the maize-Ustilago maydis interaction

Ustilago maydis is a biotrophic plant pathogenic fungus that leads to tumor development in the aerial tissues of its host, Zea mays. These tumors are the result of cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia, and are accompanied by the reprograming of primary and secondary metabolism of infected plants. Up to now, little is known regarding key plant actors and their role in tumor development during the interaction with U. maydis. Polyamines are small aliphatic amines that regulate plant growth, development and stress responses. In a previous study, we found substantial increases of polyamine levels in tumors. In the present work, we describe the maize polyamine oxidase (PAO) gene family, its contribution to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production and its possible role in tumor development induced by U. maydis. Histochemical analysis revealed that chlorotic lesions and maize tumors induced by U. maydis accumulate H2O2 to significant levels. Maize plants inoculated with U. maydis and treated with the PAO inhibitor 1,8-diaminooctane exhibit a notable reduction of H2O2 accumulation in infected tissues and a significant drop in PAO activity. This treatment also reduced disease symptoms in infected plants. Finally, among six maize PAO genes only the ZmPAO1, which encodes an extracellular enzyme, is up-regulated in tumors. Our data suggest that H2O2 produced through PA catabolism by ZmPAO1 plays an important role in tumor development during the maize-U. maydis interaction.

Stress and polyamine metabolism in fungi

Fungi, as well as the rest of living organisms must deal with environmental challenges such as stressful stimuli. Fungi are excellent models to study the general mechanisms of the response to stress, because of their simple, but conserved, signal-transduction and metabolic pathways that are often equivalent to those present in other eukaryotic systems. A factor that has been demonstrated to be involved in these responses is polyamine metabolism, essentially of the three most common polyamines: putrescine, spermidine and spermine. The gathered evidences on this subject suggest that polyamines are able to control cellular signal transduction, as well as to modulate protein-protein interactions. In the present review, we will address the recent advances on the study of fungal metabolism of polyamines, ranging from mutant characterization to potential mechanism of action during different kinds of stress in selected fungal models.

Polyamine metabolism in fungi with emphasis on phytopathogenic species

Polyamines are essential metabolites present in all living organisms, and this subject has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide interested in defining their mode of action in the variable cell functions in which they are involved, from growth to development and differentiation. Although the mechanism of polyamine synthesis is almost universal, different biological groups show interesting differences in this aspect that require to be further analyzed. For these studies, fungi represent interesting models because of their characteristics and facility of analysis. During the last decades fungi have contributed to the understanding of polyamine metabolism. The use of specific inhibitors and the isolation of mutants have allowed the manipulation of the pathway providing information on its regulation. During host-fungus interaction polyamine metabolism suffers striking changes in response to infection, which requires examination. Additionally the role of polyamine transporter is getting importance because of its role in polyamine regulation. In this paper we analyze the metabolism of polyamines in fungi, and the difference of this process with other biological groups. Of particular importance is the difference of polyamine biosynthesis between fungi and plants, which makes this process an attractive target for the control of phytopathogenic fungi.