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Bacteria are the main nutritional competitors of saprophytic fungi during colonization of their ecological niches. This competition involves the mutual secretion of antimicrobials that kill or inhibit the growth of the competitor. Over the last years it has been demonstrated that fungi respond to the presence of bacteria with changes of their transcriptome, but the significance of these changes with respect to competition for nutrients is not clear as functional proof of the antibacterial activity of the induced gene products is often lacking. Here, we report the genome-wide transcriptional response of the coprophilous mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea to the bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. The genes induced upon co-cultivation with each bacterium were highly overlapping, suggesting that the fungus uses a similar arsenal of effectors against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. Intriguingly, the induced genes appeare to encode predominantly secreted peptides and proteins with predicted antibacterial activities, which was validated by comparative proteomics of the C. cinerea secretome. Induced members of two putative antibacterial peptide and protein families in C. cinerea, the cysteine-stabilized αβ-defensins (Csαβ-defensins) and the GH24-type lysozymes, were purified, and their antibacterial activity was confirmed. These results provide compelling evidence that fungi are able to recognize the presence of bacteria and respond with the expression of an arsenal of secreted antibacterial peptides and proteins., The ISME Journal, 13, ISSN:1751-7362, ISSN:1751-7370

Since its description in 2008, Chromera velia has drawn profound interest as the closest free-­-living photosynthetic relative of apicomplexan parasites that are significant pathogens, causing enormous health and economic problems. There-­- fore, this newly described species holds a great potential to understand evolu-­- tionary basis of how photosynthetic algae evolved into the fully pathogenic Apicomplexa and how their common ancestors may have lived before they evolved into obligate parasites. Hence, the aim of this work is to understand how C. velia function and respond to different environmental conditions. This study aims to reveal how C. velia is able to respond to environmental perturbations that are applied individually and simultaneously since, studying stress factors in separation fails to elucidate complex responses to multi stress factors and un-­- derstanding the systemic regulation of involved genes. To extract biologically significant information and to identify genes involved in various physiological processes under variety of environmental conditions (i.e. a combination of vary-­- ing temperatures, iron availability, and salinity in the growth medium) we pre-­- pared strand specific RNA-­-seq libraries for 83 samples in diverse environmental conditions. Here, we report the set of significantly differentially expressed genes as a re-­- sponse to the each condition and their combinations. Several interesting up-­- regulated and down-­-regulated genes were found and their functions and in-­- volved pathways were studied. We showed that the profound regulation of HSP20 proteins is significant under stress conditions and hypothesized that the-­- se proteins might be involved in their movements.

Angiostrongylus vasorum is an emerging parasitic nematode of canids and causes respiratory distress, bleeding, and other signs in dogs. Despite its clinical importance, the molecular toolbox allowing the study of the parasite is incomplete. To address this gap, we have sequenced its nuclear genome using Oxford nanopore sequencing, polished with Illumina reads. The size of the final genome is 280 Mb comprising 468 contigs , with an N50 value of 1.68 Mb and a BUSCO score of 93.5%. Ninety-three percent of 13,766 predicted genes were assigned to putative functions. Three folate carriers were found exclusively in A. vasorum , with potential involvement in host coagulopathy . A screen for previously identified vaccine candidates, the aminopeptidase H11 and the somatic protein rHc23, revealed homologs in A. vasorum. The genome sequence will provide a foundation for the development of new tools against canine angiostrongylosis, supporting the identification of potential drug and vaccine targets.