Trehalose metabolism is important for heat stress tolerance and spore germination of Botrytis cinerea

Abstract

To analyse the role of trehalose as stress protectant and carbon storage compound in the grey mould fungusBotrytis cinerea, mutants defective in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS1) and neutral trehalase (TRE1) were constructed. The Δtps1mutant was unable to synthesize trehalose, whereas the Δtre1mutant showed elevated trehalose levels compared to the wild-type and was unable to mobilize trehalose during conidial germination. Both mutants showed normal vegetative growth and were not affected in plant pathogenicity. Growth of the Δtps1mutant was more heat sensitive compared to the wild-type. Similarly, Δtps1conidia showed a shorter survival under heat stress, and their viability at moderate temperatures was strongly reduced. In germinating wild-type conidia, rapid trehalose degradation occurred only when germination was induced in the presence of nutrients. In contrast, little trehalose breakdown was observed during germination on hydrophobic surfaces in water. Here, addition of cAMP to conidia induced trehalose mobilization and accelerated the germination process, probably by activation of TRE1. In accordance with these data, both mutants showed germination defects only in the presence of sugars but not on hydrophobic surfaces in the absence of nutrients. The data indicate that inB. cinereatrehalose serves as a stress protectant, and also as a significant but not essential carbon source for germination when external nutrients are low. In addition, evidence was obtained that trehalose 6-phosphate plays a role as a regulator of glycolysis during germination.