Proteomic analysis revealed the function of PoElp3 in development, pathogenicity and autophagy through the tRNA-mediated translation efficiency in the rice blast fungus

Abstract

AbstractThe Elongator complex is conserved in a wide range of species and plays crucial roles in diverse cellular processes. We have previously shown that the Elongator protein PoELp3 was involved in the asexual development, pathogenicity, and autophagy of the rice blast fungus. In this study, we further revealed that PoElp3 functions via tRNA-mediated protein integrity. Based on the phenotypic results that overexpression of two of the tRNAs, tK(UUU) and tQ(UUG), could rescue the defects in fungal growth, pathogenicity and response to rapamycin of ΔPoelp3strain, we performed TMT-based proteomic analysis, and showed that 386 proteins were down-regulated in ΔPoelp3strain compared with wild type strain Guy11. Transcriptional analysis demonstrated that regulation of the 386 proteins by PoElp3 was independent of transcription. Codon usage assays revealed an enrichment of Glutamine CAA-biased mRNA in the 386 proteins compared with the 70-15 genome. Functional assessment of these proteins suggested that some of them were involved in either fungal growth, conidial development, pathogenicity, or autophagy. Taken together, our results suggested that PoElp3 acts through the tRNA-mediated translational efficiency to regulate asexual development, pathogenicity, and autophagy in the rice blast fungus.