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Four new lactones (1-4) have been isolated from Botrytis cinerea. Their structures were elucidated by interpretation of spectral data, mainly (1)H and (13)C NMR, including two-dimensional analysis (HOMOCOSY, HMQC, and HMBC). The phytotoxic activities of these new natural products have been evaluated. Compounds 1-3 were inactive, while 4 showed a phytotoxic effect when tested up to 250 ppm.
The preparation of clovanes 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9, which bear different levels of oxidation on ring C, is described for the first time. The biotransformation of compounds 5, 6, and 9 by the fungus Botrytis cinerea is investigated, yielding compounds 10, 11, and 12, which are described for the first time, together with compounds 4-6, 8, and 9. The evaluation of the fungistatic activity against B. cinerea of compounds 6, 9, 12, 18, 19, 20, and 21 is reported. Comparison of these results with previously published data shows first that the inclusion of hydroxyl groups on ring C leads to a decrease in the biological activity and, second, that the presence of a 9alpha-hydroxyl group and an alkyl chain at C-2 plays an important role in the fungistatic activity against B. cinerea of compounds with a clovane skeleton.
Four new metabolites, botcinins A-D, were isolated from the culture filtrate of a strain of Botrytis cinerea. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods, mainly NMR techniques, molecular modeling, and the modified Mosher's method. They exhibited antifungal activities against Magnaporthegrisea, a pathogen of rice blast disease. Botcinins B and C have a MIC of 12.5 microM, and botcinins A and D are not active below 100 microM.
Botrytis sp., isolated from the inner bark of the Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, was shown to produce ramulosin (1), 6-hydroxyramulosin (2), and the new compound 8-dihydroramulosin (3). The structure of dihydroramulosin was deduced from the NMR spectra and confirmed by chemical conversion from ramulosin.
Six new sesquiterpenoid metabolites (1, 3-7) have been isolated from Botrytis cinerea. Their structures were elucidated by means of MS and extensive NMR studies. The phytotoxic activities of these new products have been evaluated.
Biotransformation of (4E,8R)-caryophyll-4(5)-en-8-ol (1) with Botrytis cinerea afforded 14 products (3-16). Thirteen of these (4-16) are described here for the first time. The main reaction paths involved the isomerization of the double bond at C-4/C-5 and hydroxylation of methyl groups.
Testosterone (1), a male sex hormone, and pregnenolone (2), a precursor of many steroidal hormones, were oxidized by fermentation with the fungus Botrytis cinerea. The fermentation of 1 yielded 7beta,17beta-dihydroxyandrostan-3-one (3) (73%) in a yield comparable to chemical transformations. Fermentation of 2 by the same fungus afforded a major metabolite 3beta,11alpha, 16beta-trihydroxypregn-5-en-20-one (4) (39%) along with a minor metabolite 11alpha,16beta-dihydroxypregn-4-ene-3,20-dione (5) (6%). The metabolites are characterized by detailed physical and spectroscopic studies.
An integrated approach to acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2) histochemistry by the azo-dye and lead-capture ('Gomori') methods in phosphate-starved hyphae of the fungus Botrytis cinerea revealed strikingly different patterns of localization of activity staining. Reaction product formed with the azo-dye method was found in numerous small organelles (<0.5 microm diameter), which also accumulated the lipophilic dye Nile Red and mislocalized the formazan indicating mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase activity. Such small organelles were stained only weakly and sporadically with the lead-capture method; instead, lead phosphate deposits were produced mainly in large vacuoles (up to 2.5 microm diam.), similar to those accumulating the vital dye Neutral Red. Additionally, acid phosphatase activity was detected in apical secretory vesicles with the lead-capture method but not with the azo-dye method. Ultrastructural studies by transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of large vacuoles which showed evidence of autophagic activity, and of small moderately osmiophilic organelles. The latter are considered to be spherosomes rather than lysosomes because of their weak reaction with the lead-capture method and their high lipid content. It is suggested that their apparently strong reaction with the azo-dye method is caused partly by false localization due to the lipophilic nature of the reaction product.
Butyl acetate is a volatile aroma and flavor compound in apple. Conidia of three strains of Botrytis cinerea, a fungus that causes decay of apple fruit in postharvest storage, had greater adhesion to and greater germination on polycarbonate membrane filters on water inside sealed 500 cc glass jars that were injected with 4 microliters butyl acetate than conidia not so exposed. Conidial germination was highly correlated with conidial adhesion. The yeasts Sporobolomyces roseus and Cryptococcus laurentii, but not Saccharomyces cerevisiae, reduced the adhesion and germination promoting effect of butyl acetate. Conidia did not readily utilize butyl acetate as a food source, as shown by lack of tetrazolium violet reduction, whereas S. roseus and C. laurentii, but not S. cerevisiae did. Butyl acetate added to suspensions of conidia increased the electrical conductivity of the suspensions and increased the loss of 14C from 14C-labeled conidia compared to conidia unexposed to butyl acetate. Uptake of [14C]glucose by conidia was not increased by butyl acetate. Wounds of Golden Delicious apples inoculated with conidia (strain F-J-4) in a dilute solution of butyl acetate had greater decay than unexposed wounds. S. roseus and C. laurentii, but not S. cerevisiae, added with the conidia decreased the incidence or size of decay. Results indicated that butyl acetate increased conidial adhesion, stimulating conidial germination, and some yeasts can reduce this effect.
Botrytis cinerea is a non-specific necrotrophic pathogen that attacks more than 200 plant species. In contrast to biotrophs, the necrotrophs obtain their nutrients by first killing the host cells. Many studies have shown that infection of plants by necrosis-causing pathogens induces a systemic acquired resistance (SAR), which provides protection against successive infections by a range of pathogenic organisms. We analyzed the role of SAR in B. cinerea infection of Arabidopsis. We show that although B. cinerea induced necrotic lesions and camalexin biosynthesis, it did not induce SAR-mediated protection against virulent strains of Pseudomonas syringae, or against subsequent B. cinerea infections. Induction of SAR with avirulent P. syringae or by chemical treatment with salicylic acid (SA) or benzothiadiazole also failed to inhibit B. cinerea growth, although removal of basal SA accumulation by expression of a bacterial salicylate hydroxylase (NahG) gene or by infiltration of 2-aminoindan-2-phosphonic acid, an inhibitor of phenylpropanoid pathway, increased B. cinerea disease symptoms. In addition, we show that B. cinerea induced expression of genes associated with SAR, general stress and ethylene/jasmonate-mediated defense pathways. Thus, B. cinerea does not induce SAR nor is it affected by SAR, making it a rare example of a necrogenic pathogen that does not cause SAR.
The Saccharomyces cerevisiae chitinase, encoded by the CTS1-2 gene has recently been confirmed by in vitro tests to possess antifungal abilities. In this study, the CTS1-2 gene has been evaluated for its in planta antifungal activity by constitutive overexpression in tobacco plants to assess its potential to increase the plant's defence against fungal pathogens. Transgenic tobacco plants, generated by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, showed stable integration and inheritance of the transgene. Northern blot analyses conducted on the transgenic tobacco plants confirmed transgene expression. Leaf extracts from the transgenic lines inhibited Botrytis cinerea spore germination and hyphal growth by up to 70% in a quantitative in vitro assay, leading to severe physical damage on the hyphae. Several of the F1 progeny lines were challenged with the fungal pathogen, B. cinerea, in a detached leaf infection assay, showing a decrease in susceptibility ranging from 50 to 70%. The plant lines that showed increased disease tolerance were also shown to have higher chitinase activities.
AIMS: To assess the activity of Brevibacillus brevis (formerly Bacillus brevis) Nagano and the antibiotic it produces, gramicidin S, against the plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea. METHODS AND RESULTS: Germination and growth of Bot. cinerea were assessed in the presence of B. brevis or gramicidin S in liquid media, on solid media and on leaf sections of Chinese cabbage. Germination was 10-fold more sensitive to gramicidin S than growth. Inhibition of Bot. cinerea was greater in liquid media compared with on solid media. Activity of gramicidin S against Bot. cinerea on leaf sections was much lower than in vitro. In vitro inhibition of Bot. cinerea by B. brevis Nagano was similar to equivalent levels of gramicidin. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiosis, via gramicidin S, is the mode of antagonism exhibited by B. brevis Nagano against Bot. cinerea in vitro. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The mode of antagonism of B. brevis against Bot. cinerea was elucidated. The differing activity of gramicidin S against Bot. Cinerea in vitro and on leaf sections indicates one mechanism by which biocontrol activity may differ between laboratory and field conditions.
AIMS: To study the antifungal activity of methyl cis-7-oxo-deisopropyldehydroabietate (MCOD) against phytopathogenic fungi, Botrytis cinerea and Lophodermium seditiousm. The effect of the compound was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the composition of sterols on both treated and untreated cultures was determined. METHODS AND RESULTS: MCOD was tested at concentrations in the range 0.003-0.5% by the agar plate dilution method. The radial growth of the colonies treated with MCOD was measured against colonies from untreated cultures. The radial growth of colonies of both fungi and the spore germination of B. cinerea were partially or completely inhibited. Fragments of active growing colonies treated and untreated with MCOD were submitted to the conventional procedure for ultrastructural observation by TEM. Observations by TEM on colonies of B. cinerea and L. seditiosum under 0.1% MCOD revealed several autophagic-like vacuoles, morphological alterations on lomasome and lipid accumulations in the apical zone of hyphae of both fungi. Observations on spore germination of B. cinerea revealed the presence of strongly stained lipid accumulations retained by vacuoles at the cell periphery of young hyphae. The sterol composition of B. cinerea and L. seditiosum was determined on MCOD treated and untreated cultures by gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) with molecular ions and fragmentation patterns characteristics of ergosterol (M+396) and dihydroergosterol (M+398) in both fungi. CONCLUSIONS: The morphological alterations are consistent with an unspecific mode of action of MCOD causing inhibition of normal growth or damaging the fungi cells. TEM observations suggest a mechanism of resistance based on the retention of MCOD by the lipid accumulation. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The results obtained in the present work afforded a better understanding of the mode of action of a resin acid derivative on phytopathogenic fungi. The inhibition growth of both fungi by MCOD demonstrates the antifungal activity of this compound and the interest on further in vivo studies, in order to evaluate its potential as a benign alternative to conventional fungicides.
Calcineurin phosphatase and cyclophilin A are cellular components involved in fungal morphogenesis and virulence. Their roles were investigated in the phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea using gene inactivation, drug inhibition and cDNA macroarrays approaches. First, the BCP1 gene coding for cyclophilin A was identified and inactivated by homologous recombination. The bcp1Delta null mutant obtained was still able to develop infection structures but was altered in symptom development on bean and tomato leaves. Opposite to this, calcineurin inhibition using cyclosporin A (CsA) modified hyphal morphology and prevented infection structure formation. CsA drug pattern signature on macroarrays allowed the identification of 18 calcineurin-dependent (CND) genes among 2839 B. cinerea genes. Among the co-regulated CND genes, three were shown to be organized as a physical cluster that could be involved in secondary metabolism. The signature of BCP1 inactivation on macroarrays allowed the identification of only three BCP1 cyclophilin-dependent (CPD) genes that were different from CND genes. Finally, no CsA drug pattern signature was observed in the bcp1Delta null mutant which provided a molecular target validation of the drug.
Animal tetraspanins are membrane proteins controlling cell adhesion, morphology and motility. In fungi, the tetraspanin MgPls1 controls an appressorial function required for the penetration of Magnaporthe grisea into host plants. An orthologue of MgPLS1, BcPLS1, was identified in the necrotrophic fungal plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea. We constructed a Bcpls1::bar null mutant by targeted gene replacement. Bcpls1::bar is not pathogenic on intact plant tissues of bean, tomato or rose, but it infects wounded plant tissues. Both wild type and Bcpls1::bar differentiate appressoria on plant and artificial surfaces, a process involving an arrest of polarized growth, apex swelling and its cell wall reinforcement. Although wild-type appressoria allowed the penetration of the fungus into the host plant within 6-12 h, no successful penetration events were observed with Bcpls1::bar, suggesting that its appressoria are not functional. An eGFP transcriptional fusion showed that BcPLS1 was specifically expressed in conidia, germ tubes and appressoria during host penetration. Our results indicate that BcPLS1 is required for the penetration of B. cinerea into intact host plants. The defect in pathogenicity of Bcpls1::bar also demonstrates that functional B. cinerea appressoria are required for a successful penetration process. As Bcpls1::bar and Mgpls1 Delta::hph penetration defects are similar, fungal tetraspanins are likely to be required for an essential appressorial function widespread among fungi.
Salicylic acid (SA) is an important regulator of plant defense responses, and a variety of Arabidopsis mutants impaired in resistance against bacterial and fungal pathogens show defects in SA accumulation, perception, or signal transduction. Nevertheless, the role of SA-dependent defense responses against necrotrophic fungi is currently unclear. We determined the susceptibility of a set of previously identified Arabidopsis mutants impaired in defense responses to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea. The rate of development of B. cinerea disease symptoms on primary infected leaves was affected by responses mediated by the genes EIN2, JAR1, EDS4, PAD2, and PAD3, but was largely independent of EDS5, SID2/ICS1, and PAD4. Furthermore, plants expressing a nahG transgene or treated with a phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) inhibitor showed enhanced symptoms, suggesting that SA synthesized via PAL, and not via isochorismate synthase (ICS), mediates lesion development. In addition, the degree of lesion development did not correlate with defensin or PR1 expression, although it was partially dependent upon camalexin accumulation. Although npr1 mutant leaves were normally susceptible to B. cinerea infection, a double ein2 npr1 mutant was significantly more susceptible than ein2 plants, and exogenous application of SA decreased B. cinerea lesion size through an NPR1-dependent mechanism that could be mimicked by the cpr1 mutation. These data indicate that local resistance to B. cinerea requires ethylene-, jasmonate-, and SA-mediated signaling, that the SA affecting this resistance does not require ICS1 and is likely synthesized via PAL, and that camalexin limits lesion development.
The phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea produces a set of polygalacturonases (PGs) which are involved in the enzymatic degradation of pectin during plant tissue infection. Two polygalacturonases secreted by B. cinerea in seven-day-old liquid culture were purified to apparent homogeneity by chromatography. PG I was an exopolygalacturonase of molecular weight 65 kDa and pI 8.0 and PG II was an endopolygalacturonase of 52 kDa and pI 7.8. Enzymatic activity of PG I and PG II was partially inhibited by 1 mM CaCl2, probably by calcium chelation of polygalacturonic acid, the substrate of the enzyme.
Resveratrol is a major phytoalexin in grapevine but its synthesis in response to phytopathogen attack decreases with grape berry ripening. A chimeric gene combining an alfalfa PR 10 promoter and Vst1 (Vitis stilbene synthase 1) gene was introduced into the genome of 41B rootstock. Transgenic plants were analysed for resveratrol production in leaves infected with Botrytis using an in vitro test. Among the 50 transgenic lines analysed, some exhibited a production lower than the non-transgenic control, but others accumulated resveratrol from 5-100-fold. Moreover, in the latter clones, symptoms were highly reduced in response to infection. These results were a good indication that the combination of a pathogen-inducible promoter and a defence gene may increase tolerance against fungi in grapevine. The efficacy of this approach should be further tested by experiments conducted in the vineyard.