ArticlePLoS pathogens2014
Host-to-pathogen gene transfer facilitated infection of insects by a pathogenic fungus.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Screening and Comparative Efficacy of Indigenous Entomopathogenic Fungi from Forest Ecosystems AgainstInsects · 2026Article
- Mr-lac3 and Mr-lcc2 inJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Histone deacetylase HDAC3 regulates ergosterol production for oxidative stress tolerance in the entomopathogenic and endophytic fungusmSystems · 2024Article
- The secretory protein COA1 enables Metarhizium robertsii to evade insect immune recognition during cuticle penetration.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Identification and functional characterization of the npc-2-like domain containing rust effector protein that suppresses cell death in plants.Molecular biology reports · 2024Article
- Genomic insights into the evolution and adaptation of secondary metabolite gene clusters in fungicolous species Cladobotryum mycophilum ATHUM6906.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Article
- Genome comparisons reveal accessory genes crucial for the evolution of apple Glomerella leaf spot pathogenicity in Colletotrichum fungi.Molecular plant pathology · 2024Article
- Insect fungal pathogens secrete a cell wall-associated glucanase that acts to help avoid recognition by the host immune system.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- A roadmap to understanding diversity and function of coral reef-associated fungi.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2022Article
- Host-Pathogen Interactions betweenJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- The Sugar Transporter MST1 Is Involved in Colonization of Rhizosphere and Rhizoplane by MetarhiziummSystems · 2021Article
- A novel cascade allows Metarhizium robertsii to distinguish cuticle and hemocoel microenvironments during infection of insects.PLoS biology · 2021Article
- Conservative production of galactosaminogalactan in Metarhizium is responsible for appressorium mucilage production and topical infection of insect hosts.PLoS pathogens · 2021Article
- An efficient Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method for Simplicillium subtropicum (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae).Genetics and molecular biology · 2021Article
- Research Progress on Phytopathogenic Fungi and Their Role as Biocontrol Agents.Frontiers in microbiology · 2021Review
- Review
- A M35 family metalloprotease is required for fungal virulence against insects by inactivating host prophenoloxidases and beyond.Virulence · 2020Article
- Metabolic comparison of aerial and submerged mycelia formed in the liquid surface culture of Cordyceps militaris.MicrobiologyOpen · 2019Article
- Horizontal gene transfer allowed the emergence of broad host range entomopathogens.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
- Ancestral Function and Diversification of a Horizontally Acquired Oomycete Carboxylic Acid Transporter.Molecular biology and evolution · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Metarhizium robertsii is a plant root colonizing fungus that is also an insect pathogen. Its entomopathogenicity is a characteristic that was acquired during evolution from a plant endophyte ancestor. This transition provides a novel perspective on how new functional mechanisms important for host switching and virulence have evolved. From a random T-DNA insertion library, we obtained a pathogenicity defective mutant that resulted from the disruption of a sterol carrier gene (Mr-npc2a). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Metarhizium acquired Mr-npc2a from an insect by horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Mr-NPC2a binds to cholesterol, an animal sterol, rather than the fungal sterol ergosterol, indicating it retains the specificity of insect NPC2 proteins. Mr-NPC2a is an intracellular protein and is exclusively expressed in the hemolymph of living insects. The disruption of Mr-npc2a reduced the amount of sterol in cell membranes of the yeast-like hyphal bodies that facilitate dispersal in the host body. These were consequently more susceptible to insect immune responses than the wild type. Transgenic expression of Mr-NPC2a increased the virulence of Beauveria bassiana, an endophytic insect-pathogenic fungus that lacks a Mr-NPC2a homolog.
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