Genomic and Proteomic Dissection of the Ubiquitous
Plant Pathogen, <i>Armillaria mellea</i>: Toward a New Infection
Model System
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Abstract
Armillaria mellea is a major plant
pathogen. Yet, no large-scale “-omics” data are available
to enable new studies, and limited experimental models are available
to investigate basidiomycete pathogenicity. Here we reveal that the <i>A. mellea</i> genome comprises 58.35 Mb, contains 14473 gene
models, of average length 1575 bp (4.72 introns/gene). Tandem mass
spectrometry identified 921 mycelial (<i>n</i> = 629 unique)
and secreted (<i>n</i> = 183 unique) proteins. Almost 100
mycelial proteins were either species-specific or previously unidentified
at the protein level. A number of proteins (<i>n</i> = 111)
was detected in both mycelia and culture supernatant extracts. Signal
sequence occurrence was 4-fold greater for secreted (50.2%) compared
to mycelial (12%) proteins. Analyses revealed a rich reservoir of
carbohydrate degrading enzymes, laccases, and lignin peroxidases in
the <i>A. mellea</i> proteome, reminiscent of both basidiomycete
and ascomycete glycodegradative arsenals. We discovered that <i>A. mellea</i> exhibits a specific killing effect against Candida albicans during coculture. Proteomic investigation
of this interaction revealed the unique expression of defensive and
potentially offensive <i>A. mellea</i> proteins (<i>n</i> = 30). Overall, our data reveal new insights into the
origin of basidiomycete virulence and we present a new model system
for further studies aimed at deciphering fungal pathogenic mechanisms