Cyclooxygenases and lipoxygenases are used by the fungus Podospora anserina to repel nematodes

Roselyne Ferrari (1) , Isabelle Lacaze (2) , Pauline Le Faouder (3) , Justine Bertrand-Michel (4) , Camille Oger (5) , Jean-Marie Galano (5) , Thierry Durand (5) , Stéphane Moularat (2) , Laetitia Chan Ho Tong (1) , Charlie Boucher (1) , Jaafar Kilani (1) , Yohann Petit (1) , Océane Vanparis (1) , César Trannoy (1) , Sylvain Brun (1) , Hervé Lalucque (1) , Fabienne Malagnac (1, 6) , Philippe Silar (1)

1 LIED (UMR_8236) - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Energies de Demain
2 CSTB - Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment
3 I2MC - Institut des Maladies Métaboliques et Cardiovasculaires
4 MetaboHUB-MetaToul
5 IBMM - Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron [Pôle Chimie Balard]
6 I2BC - Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule

Oxylipins are secondary messengers used universally in the living world for communication and defense. The paradigm is that they are produced enzymatically for the eicosanoids and non-enzymatically for the isoprostanoids. They are supposed to be degraded into volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and to participate in aroma production. Some such chemicals composed of eight carbons are also envisoned as alternatives to fossil fuels. In fungi, oxylipins have been mostly studied in Aspergilli and shown to be involved in signalling asexual versus sexual development, mycotoxin production and interaction with the host for pathogenic species. Through targeted gene deletions of genes encoding oxylipin-producing enzymes and chemical analysis of oxylipins and volatile organic compounds, we show that in the distantly-related ascomycete Podospora anserina, isoprostanoids are likely produced enzymatically. We show the disappearance in the mutants lacking lipoxygenases and cyclooxygenases of the production of 10-hydroxy-octadecadienoic acid and that of 1-octen-3-ol, a common volatile compound. Importantly, this was correlated with the inability of the mutants to repel nematodes as efficiently as the wild type. Overall, our data show that in this fungus, oxylipins are not involved in signalling development but may rather be used directly or as precursors in the production of odors against potential agressors.

Keywords: Cyclooxygenase; Fungi; Lipoxygenase; Oxylipins; Podospora anserina; Volatile organic compounds

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Roselyne Ferrari, Isabelle Lacaze, Pauline Le Faouder, Justine Bertrand-Michel, Camille Oger, et al.. Cyclooxygenases and lipoxygenases are used by the fungus Podospora anserina to repel nematodes. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects, 2018, 1862 (10), pp.2174-2182. ⟨10.1016/j.bbagen.2018.07.012⟩. ⟨hal-03152351⟩