02406nas a2200169   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260001600043100001800059700001500077700001700092700001900109700002100128245014600149520192700295022001402222       2016                            d  c2016 Jan 221 aAlisha Quandt1 aYanming Di1 aJustin Elser1 aPankaj Jaiswal1 aJoseph Spatafora00aDifferential Expression of Genes Involved in Host Recognition, Attachment, and Degradation in the Mycoparasite Tolypocladium ophioglossoides.3 aThe ability of a fungus to infect novel hosts is dependent on changes in gene content, expression, or regulation. Examining gene expression under simulated host conditions can explore which genes may contribute to host jumping. Insect pathogenesis is the inferred ancestral character state for species of Tolypocladium, however several species are parasites of truffles, including T. ophioglossoides. To identify potentially crucial genes in this inter-kingdom host switch, T. ophioglossoides was grown on four media conditions: media containing the inner and outer portions of its natural host (truffles of Elaphomyces), cuticles from an ancestral host (beetle), and a rich medium (Yeast Malt). Through high-throughput RNASeq of mRNA from these conditions, many differentially expressed genes were identified in the experiment. These included PTH11-related G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) hypothesized to be involved in host recognition, and also found to be upregulated in insect pathogens. A divergent chitinase with a signal peptide was also found to be highly upregulated on media containing truffle tissue, suggesting an exogenous degradative activity in the presence of the truffle host. The adhesin gene, Mad1, was highly expressed on truffle media as well. A BiNGO analysis of overrepresented GO terms from genes expressed during each growth condition found that genes involved in redox reactions and transmembrane transport were the most overrepresented during T. ophioglossoides growth on truffle media, suggesting their importance in growth on fungal tissue as compared to other hosts and environments. Genes involved in secondary metabolism were most highly expressed during growth on insect tissue, suggesting their products may not be necessary during parasitism of Elaphomyces. This study provides clues into understanding genetic mechanisms underlying the transition from insect to truffle parasitism.  a2160-1836