dramatic transcriptional changes in an intracellular parasite enable host switching between plant and insect戏剧性的转录变化在一个细胞内寄生虫启用宿主植物和昆虫之间切换.pdfVIP

Dramatic Transcriptional Changes in an Intracellular Parasite Enable Host Switching between Plant and Insect Kenro Oshima, Yoshiko Ishii, Shigeyuki Kakizawa, Kyoko Sugawara, Yutaro Neriya, Misako Himeno, Nami Minato, Chihiro Miura, Takuya Shiraishi, Yasuyuki Yamaji, Shigetou Namba* Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Abstract Phytoplasmas are bacterial plant pathogens that have devastating effects on the yields of crops and plants worldwide. They are intracellular parasites of both plants and insects, and are spread among plants by insects. How phytoplasmas can adapt to two diverse environments is of considerable interest; however, the mechanisms enabling the ‘‘host switching’’ between plant and insect hosts are poorly understood. Here, we report that phytoplasmas dramatically alter their gene expression in response to ‘‘host switching’’ between plant and insect. We performed a detailed characterization of the dramatic change that occurs in the gene expression profile of Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris OY-M strain (approximately 33% of the genes change) upon host switching between plant and insect. The phytoplasma may use transporters, secreted proteins, and metabolic enzymes in a host-specific manner. As phytoplasmas reside within the host cell, the proteins secreted from phytoplasmas are thought to play crucial roles in the interplay between phytoplasmas and host cells. Our microarray analysis revealed that the expression of the gene encoding the secreted protein PAM486 was highly upregulated in the plant host, which is also observed by immunohistochemical analysis, suggesting that this protein functions mainly when the phytoplasma grows in the plant host. Additionally, phytoplasma growth in planta was partially suppressed by an inh