Atomic Force Microscopy of a wheat fungal pathogen. 

Session

Poster Session Two

Authors

Mr Cameron Colclough (1, 2), Ms Eleanor Briggs (2), Dr Abimbola Feyisara Olulana (1), Dr Sam Amsbury (2), Professor Andrew Fleming (2), Professor Jamie Hobbs (1)

Affiliations

1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
2. Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield

Keywords

Atomic Force Microscopy, cell wall, Zymoseptoria tritici, fungi

Abstract text

Fungal diseases pose a significant threat to food security through associated crop losses. Zymoseptoria tritici is a pervasive foliar pathogen of wheat (Triticum aestivum), resulting in yield reductions of €720 million in Western Europe alone^[1]. Cell walls aid in maintenance of a suitable turgor pressure to facilitate controlled cell expansion and prevent attack from foreign agents^[2,3]. The distinct biology of fungal cell walls from their hosts makes them a key target on which control technologies can act. Using high-resolution atomic force microscopy^[4], the nanometric, location specific structure of the cell wall is revealed. The external cell wall body is a highly topographic matrix of different sized glycan strands (between 2 nm and 15 nm wide) and open pores. Whereas cell poles, sites of cell division, exhibit an ordered, concentric ring arrangement. Internal surfaces of the cell wall form a uniform, dense mesh of thinner chains (<2 nm width). Complimentary nano IR-spectroscopy techniques^[5], identifying the underlying chemistries of Z.tritici cell wall composition, are also presented. Together, these analyses inform our understanding of fungal cell wall development; that the interior is formed of newly deposited polymers, whereas the exterior represents older material that has undergone extensive remodelling. Characterising the spatial and chemical variation of the fungal cell wall on the nanoscale provides insights into its mechanistic function.  

References

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[2]      Atilgan, E.; Magidson, V.; Khodjakov, A.; Chang, F. Morphogenesis of the Fission Yeast Cell through Cell Wall Expansion. Current Biology 2015, 25 (16), 2150–2157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.059.

[3]      Gow, N. A. R.; Lenardon, M. D. Architecture of the Dynamic Fungal Cell Wall. Nat Rev Microbiol 2022. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-022-00796-9.

[4]      Pasquina-Lemonche, L.; Burns, J.; Turner, R. D.; Kumar, S.; Tank, R.; Mullin, N.; Wilson, J. S.; Chakrabarti, B.; Bullough, P. A.; Foster, S. J.; Hobbs, J. K. The Architecture of the Gram-Positive Bacterial Cell Wall. Nature 2020, 582 (7811), 294–297. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2236-6.

[5]      Centrone, A. Infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy beyond the Diffraction Limit. Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry 2015, 8, 101–126. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anchem-071114-040435.