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Transcript profiling using ESTs and cDNA arrays as a tool to study functional
diversity in ectomycorrhizal fungi
M. Peter(1), M. Chalot(2), F. Le Tacon(1), and F. Martin(1)
UMR INRA-UHP 1136 Interactions Arbres/Micro-organismes,
(1) Centre INRA de Nancy, 54280 Champenoux
(2) UHP-Nancy 1, BP239 - 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy
Several thousand fungal species worldwide form ectomycorrhizas with host
trees. What is the functional significance of this diversity? Do different
ectomycorrhizal species and genotypes differ in their functional abilities
and thus offer distinct benefits for the host plant? Studying ectomycorrhizal
fungi at the level of their transcriptome may be the key to the answers
of these questions.
Therefore, we have studied the gene expression of two different genotypes
of the ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete Laccaria bicolor interacting with
the same host plant. We used a non-sterile symbiotic system with greenhouse-grown
ectomycorrhizal seedlings of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) inoculated
with both L. bicolor genotypes. The cDNA array technology was applied
to investigate the expression of a large number of genes simultaneously.
The specific questions were: do the two strains with different genetic
background show differential gene expression when associated with the
same host plant and is it possible to detect it?
As a prerequisite for gene expression profiling using cdna arrays we have
constructed cdna libraries from mycelium of one of the two l. Bicolor
genotypes and sequenced as well as functionally annotated approximately
1500 cdna clones. This large-scale production of expressed sequence tags
(ests) allowed to discover ~900 different genes expressed in this ectomycorhizal
basidiomycete. Sixty % of all ests did not show any similarity to previously
identified genes within the genbank databases. A comparison of this set
of ests with ests of other basidiomycetes, such as pisolithus microcarpus,
revealed that l. Bicolor shared only around 10% of common transcripts
with these fungi. This might indicate both, that the variability of expressed
genes in different fungi and fungal tissues is considerably high and that
there is a lack of genomic information of basidiomycetous origin.
In order to study the gene expression in ectomycorrhizas of the two l.
Bicolor genotypes, the 900 different genes were spotted at least 4x on
nylon arrays. A small section of each ectomycorrhizal root tip of three
replicate plants was genotyped by analysing the igs1 region of ribosomal
dna with an automated sequencer. After identification, the remaining root
tissues were pooled for each of the three replicate plants and used as
probes for cdna array hybridizations. The array analyses revealed that
most of the genes were expressed equally in ectomycorrhizas of the two
genotypes. However, it was possible to detect a small set of genes, which
showed differential gene expression in all three replicates. The function
of most of them is unknown and they are, therefore interesting candidates
to study in more detail. The combined genotype/transcriptomic approach
is a promising tool to study functional diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi
under different environmental conditions in microcosms and in the field.
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