A TAL effector-like protein of an endofungal bacterium increases the stress tolerance and alters the transcriptome of the host
Morgan Carter, Sara C. D. Carpenter, Zoë E. Dubrow, Mark R. Sabol, Fábio C. Rinaldi, Olga A. Lastovetsky, Stephen J. Mondo, Teresa E. Pawlowska, Adam J. Bogdanove
Abstract
Significance Endosymbiotic bacteria are found in diverse fungi, but little is known about how they communicate with their hosts. Some plant pathogenic bacteria use type III-translocated TAL effectors to control host transcription, and TAL-like proteins are encoded in genomes of the fungal endosymbiotic bacterium Mycetohabitans rhizoxinica . In this paper, we present evidence that these proteins are, like TAL effectors, type III-secreted, nuclear-localizing effectors that perturb host transcription and show that one enhances tolerance of the fungal host to cell membrane stress. Our characterization of an effector in a bacterial–fungal symbiosis opens a new door to molecular understanding of these interkingdom partnerships. Our findings also provide insight into the functional diversity and evolution of the TAL effector protein family.