Proteomic changes in Arthrobotrys oligospora conidia in response to benzaldehyde-induced fungistatic stress

Soil fungistasis limits the effect of fungal agents designed to control plant-parasitic nematodes. Benzaldehyde is a fungistatic factor produced by soil microorganisms that can suppress conidial germination, but the molecular mechanism of this suppression is unknown. In this study, three conidial proteomes of Arthrobotrys oligospora ATCC24927, a nematode-trapping fungus, were obtained, quantified, and compared. Under benzaldehyde fungistatic stress, conidial protein expression profile changed significantly. Screening with a twofold selection criterion revealed 164 up-regulated and 110 down-regulated proteins. 17 proteins related to protein translation were down-regulated and gene transcription analysis suggested that the repression of proteins translation might be one mechanism by which benzaldehyde inhibites conidial germination. Benzaldehyde also resulted in the down-regulation of respiratory chain proteins and mitochondrial processes, as well as the repression of conidial DNA synthesis. In addition, the conidia up-regulated several proteins that enable it to resist benzaldehyde-induced fungistatis, and this was confirmed by a functional assessment of two knockout mutants. This study reveals putative mechanisms by which benzaldehyde causes fungistasis as well as the proteomic response of conidia to benzaldehyde. SIGNIFICANCE: Soil fungistasis limits the effect of fungal agents designed to control plant-parasitic nematodes. Benzaldehyde is one of fungistatic factors produced by soil microorganisms that can suppress conidial germination. In this study, we found that conidial protein expression profile changed significantly under benzaldehyde fungistatic stress. This research revealed new mechanistic data that describe how benzaldehyde is responsible for fungiststis by inhibiting conidial germination. Moreover, we also found that conidia can resist benzaldehyde by up-regulating proteins such as benzaldehyde dehydrogenase and heat shock proteins. This study also showed that proteomics methods play important roles in addressing soil fungistatic mechanisms.