The Identification of Phytohormone Receptor Homologs in Early Diverging Fungi Suggests a Role for Plant Sensing in Land Colonization by Fungi
Anaïs Hérivaux,
Thomas Dugé de Bernonville,
Christophe Roux,
Marc Clastre,
Vincent Courdavault,
Amandine Gastebois,
Jean-Philippe Bouchara,
Timothy Y. James,
Jean-Paul Latgé,
Francis Martin,
Nicolas Papon
Affiliations
Anaïs Hérivaux
Université d’Angers, Groupe d’Etude des Interactions Hôte-Pathogène, Angers, France
Thomas Dugé de Bernonville
Université François-Rabelais de Tours, EA 2106, Biomolécules et Biotechnologies Végétales, Tours, France
Christophe Roux
Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, Université de Toulouse, UPS, Castanet-Tolosan, France
Marc Clastre
Université François-Rabelais de Tours, EA 2106, Biomolécules et Biotechnologies Végétales, Tours, France
Vincent Courdavault
Université François-Rabelais de Tours, EA 2106, Biomolécules et Biotechnologies Végétales, Tours, France
Amandine Gastebois
Université d’Angers, Groupe d’Etude des Interactions Hôte-Pathogène, Angers, France
Jean-Philippe Bouchara
Université d’Angers, Groupe d’Etude des Interactions Hôte-Pathogène, Angers, France
Timothy Y. James
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Jean-Paul Latgé
Institut Pasteur de Paris, Unité des Aspergillus, Paris, France
Francis Martin
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Université de Lorraine, UMR 1136 Interactions Arbres/Microorganismes, Laboratoire d'Excellence ARBRE, Nancy, France
Nicolas Papon
Université d’Angers, Groupe d’Etude des Interactions Hôte-Pathogène, Angers, France
ABSTRACT Histidine kinases (HKs) are among the most prominent sensing proteins studied in the kingdom Fungi. Their distribution and biological functions in early diverging fungi (EDF), however, remain elusive. We have taken advantage of recent genomic resources to elucidate whether relationships between the occurrence of specific HKs in some EDF and their respective habitat/lifestyle could be established. This led to the unexpected discovery of fungal HKs that share a high degree of similarity with receptors for plant hormones (ethylene and cytokinin). Importantly, these phytohormone receptor homologs are found not only in EDF that behave as plant root symbionts or endophytes but also in EDF species that colonize decaying plant material. We hypothesize that these particular sensing proteins promoted the interaction of EDF with plants, leading to the conquest of land by these ancestral fungi.
