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The genome of Laccaria bicolor provides insights into mycorrhizal symbiosis

Martin, Francis ; Aerts, Andrea ; Ahrén, Dag LU orcid ; Brun, Annick ; Duchaussoy, Frédéric ; Gibon, Julien ; Kohler, Annegret ; Lindquist, Erika ; Pereda, Veronica and Salamov, Asaf , et al. (2008) In Nature 452(7183). p.7-88
Abstract
Mycorrhizal symbioses -- the union of roots and soil fungi -- are universal in terrestrial ecosystems and

may have been fundamental to land colonization by plants1,2. Boreal, temperate, and montane forests all

depend upon ectomycorrhizae1. Identification of the primary factors that regulate symbiotic

development and metabolic activity will therefore open the door to understanding the role of

2

ectomycorrhizae in plant development and physiology, allowing the full ecological significance of this

symbiosis to be explored. Here, we report the genome sequence of the ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete

Laccaria bicolor (Fig. 1) and highlight gene sets involved in rhizosphere colonization... (More)
Mycorrhizal symbioses -- the union of roots and soil fungi -- are universal in terrestrial ecosystems and

may have been fundamental to land colonization by plants1,2. Boreal, temperate, and montane forests all

depend upon ectomycorrhizae1. Identification of the primary factors that regulate symbiotic

development and metabolic activity will therefore open the door to understanding the role of

2

ectomycorrhizae in plant development and physiology, allowing the full ecological significance of this

symbiosis to be explored. Here, we report the genome sequence of the ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete

Laccaria bicolor (Fig. 1) and highlight gene sets involved in rhizosphere colonization and symbiosis. This

65-million-base genome assembly contains ~ 20,000 predicted protein-encoding genes and a very large

number of transposons and repeated sequences. We detected unexpected genomic features most notably

a battery of effector-type small secreted proteins (SSP) with unknown function, several of which are only

expressed in symbiotic tissues. The most highly expressed SSP accumulates in the proliferating hyphae

colonizing the host root. The ectomycorrhizae-specific proteins likely play a decisive role in the

establishment of the symbiosis. The unexpected observation that the genome of L. bicolor lacks

carbohydrate-active enzymes involved in degradation of plant cell walls, but maintains the ability to

degrade non-plant cell walls, reveals the dual saprotrophic and biotrophic lifestyle of the mycorrhizal

fungus which enables it to grow within both soil and living plant roots. The predicted gene inventory of

the L. bicolor genome, therefore, points to previously unknown mechanisms of symbiosis operating in

biotrophic mycorrhizal fungi. The availability of this genome provides an unparalleled opportunity to

develop a deeper understanding of the processes by which symbionts interact with plants within their

ecosystem in order to perform vital functions in the carbon and nitrogen cycles that are fundamental to

sustainable plant productivity. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature
volume
452
issue
7183
pages
7 - 88
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • wos:000253671900052
  • scopus:40449120632
ISSN
0028-0836
DOI
10.1038/nature06556
project
Mobilization of organic nitrogen by ectomycorrhizal fungi
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d5246724-6ac9-4447-a431-49d58c38d29e (old id 952616)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:44:52
date last changed
2024-05-07 13:07:34
@article{d5246724-6ac9-4447-a431-49d58c38d29e,
  abstract     = {{Mycorrhizal symbioses -- the union of roots and soil fungi -- are universal in terrestrial ecosystems and<br/><br>
may have been fundamental to land colonization by plants1,2. Boreal, temperate, and montane forests all<br/><br>
depend upon ectomycorrhizae1. Identification of the primary factors that regulate symbiotic<br/><br>
development and metabolic activity will therefore open the door to understanding the role of<br/><br>
2<br/><br>
ectomycorrhizae in plant development and physiology, allowing the full ecological significance of this<br/><br>
symbiosis to be explored. Here, we report the genome sequence of the ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete<br/><br>
Laccaria bicolor (Fig. 1) and highlight gene sets involved in rhizosphere colonization and symbiosis. This<br/><br>
65-million-base genome assembly contains ~ 20,000 predicted protein-encoding genes and a very large<br/><br>
number of transposons and repeated sequences. We detected unexpected genomic features most notably<br/><br>
a battery of effector-type small secreted proteins (SSP) with unknown function, several of which are only<br/><br>
expressed in symbiotic tissues. The most highly expressed SSP accumulates in the proliferating hyphae<br/><br>
colonizing the host root. The ectomycorrhizae-specific proteins likely play a decisive role in the<br/><br>
establishment of the symbiosis. The unexpected observation that the genome of L. bicolor lacks<br/><br>
carbohydrate-active enzymes involved in degradation of plant cell walls, but maintains the ability to<br/><br>
degrade non-plant cell walls, reveals the dual saprotrophic and biotrophic lifestyle of the mycorrhizal<br/><br>
fungus which enables it to grow within both soil and living plant roots. The predicted gene inventory of<br/><br>
the L. bicolor genome, therefore, points to previously unknown mechanisms of symbiosis operating in<br/><br>
biotrophic mycorrhizal fungi. The availability of this genome provides an unparalleled opportunity to<br/><br>
develop a deeper understanding of the processes by which symbionts interact with plants within their<br/><br>
ecosystem in order to perform vital functions in the carbon and nitrogen cycles that are fundamental to<br/><br>
sustainable plant productivity.}},
  author       = {{Martin, Francis and Aerts, Andrea and Ahrén, Dag and Brun, Annick and Duchaussoy, Frédéric and Gibon, Julien and Kohler, Annegret and Lindquist, Erika and Pereda, Veronica and Salamov, Asaf and Shapiro, Harris and Wuyts, Jan and Blaudez, Damien and Buée, Marc and Brokstein, Peter and Canbäck, Björn and Cohen, David and Courty, Pierre Emmanuel and Coutinho, Pedro and Danchin, Etienne and Delaruelle, Christine and Detter, John and Deveau, Aurélie and DiFazio, S and Duplessis, Sebastien and Fraissinet-Tachet, Laurence and Lucic, Eva and Frey-Klett, Pascal and Fourrey, Claire and Feussner, Ivo and Gay, Gilles and Grimwood, Jane and Hoegger, Patrik and Jain, P and Kilaru, Sreedhar and Labbé, Jessy and Lin, Yao Chen and Legué, Valérie and Le Tacon, Francois and Marmeisse, Roland and Melayah, Delphine and Montanini, Barbara and Muratet, Mike and Nehls, Uwe and Niculita-Hirzel, Hélène and Oudot-Le Secq, Marie-Pierre and Peter, Martina and Quesneville, Hadi and Rajashekar, Balaji and Reich, Marlis and Rouhier, Nicolas and Schmutz, Jeremy and Yin, Tongming and Chalot, Michelle and Henrissat, Bernhard and Kües, Ursel and Lucas, Susan and Van de Peer, Yves and Podila, Gopi and Polle, Andrea and Pukkila, Patricia and Richardson, Paul and Rouzé, Pierre and Sanders, Ian and Stajich, Jason and Tunlid, Anders and Tuskan, Gerald and Grigoriev, Igor}},
  issn         = {{0028-0836}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7183}},
  pages        = {{7--88}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature}},
  title        = {{The genome of Laccaria bicolor provides insights into mycorrhizal symbiosis}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature06556}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/nature06556}},
  volume       = {{452}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}