Les espèces du genre Colletotrichum sont majoritairement des agents pathogènes de nombreuses plantes et provoquent des dégâts importants aux cultures partout dans le monde. Colletotrichum higginsianum est un champignon phytopathogène hémibiotrophe capable d’infecter de nombreuses Brassicaceae dont la plante modèle Arabidopsis thaliana. L’intérêt du pathosystème C. higginsianum – A. thaliana réside dans la possibilité de manipuler génétiquement les deux partenaires. Par ailleurs, la disponibilité de très nombreuses lignées transgéniques et d’outils génétiques aide à disséquer les mécanismes de résistance et de sensibilité de la plante. Nous avons re-séquencé (technologie PacBio) le génome de C. higginsianum afin d’obtenir les séquences complètes des 12 chromosomes. L’analyse détaillée de cette seconde version du génome a permis de mettre en évidence l’un des plus grands arsenaux fongiques de gènes du MS et de résoudre les problèmes de fragmentation de la première version du génome. Afin d’identifier les métabolites secondaires que C. higginsianum produit au cours de l’infection de la plante, nous avons supprimé des répresseurs du MS qui modifient l’état de la chromatine (Kmt1, Kmt6, Hep1, CclA) et sur-exprimé des inducteurs du MS (LaeA, Sge1) décrits chez d’autres mycètes. Grâce à des analyses de transcriptomique (RNA-Seq), des gènes du MS différentiellement exprimés dans ces mutants ont pu être identifiés. Ensuite, par des analyses de chimie analytique nous avons pu identifier et caractériser deux familles de métabolites secondaires. Enfin, nous avons mis en évidence des activités inédites pour ces deux familles de composés. Ces résultats ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives pour aborder le déterminisme du pouvoir pathogène de C. higginsianum. / Colletotrichum spp. are major plant pathogens of numerous crops worldwide. Colletotrichum higginsianum uses a hemibiotrophic lifestyle to infect many members of the Brassicaceae including the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The C. higginsianum – A. thaliana pathosystem facilitates dissection of the mechanisms of plant resistance and susceptibility and the traits underlying fungal pathogenicity. Both partners can be genetically manipulated and powerful genetic tools and transgenic lines are available on the plant side. With a view to obtain a more complete inventory of C. higginsianum secondary metabolism (SM) genes, we re-sequenced the genome de novo using PacBio technology, providing 12 complete chromosome sequences. The in-depth analysis of this second version of the genome revealed one of the largest SM repertoires described to date for any ascomycete and solved numerous fragmentation problems in the first genome assembly. In order to identify secondary metabolites produced by C. higginsianum during plant infection, we deleted negative SM regulators that modify chromatin status (Kmt1, Kmt6, Hep1, CclA), and over-expressed positive SM regulators (LaeA, Sge1), all of which were well-described in other fungi. Using transcriptomics (RNASeq), we identified SM genes differentially expressed in these mutants. Using metabolite profiling, we also identified and characterised two families of secondary metabolites. Finally we describe novel biological activities for these compound families. These results provide new insights into the molecular basis of pathogenicity in C. higginsianum.

Oleic acid (18:1) is one of the important monounsaturated fatty acids, which is synthesized upon desaturation of stearic acid and this reaction is catalyzed by the SSI2 encoded stearoyl-acyl-carrier-protein-desaturase. A mutation in SSI2 leads to constitutive activation of salicylic acid (SA)-mediated defense responses. Consequently, these plants accumulate high levels of SA and show enhanced resistance to bacterial and oomycete pathogens. Replenishing 18:1 levels in ssi2 plants, via a second site mutation in GLY1 encoded glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) dehydrogenase, suppresses all the ssi2-triggered phenotypes. Study of mechanism(s) underlying gly1-mediated suppression of ssi2 phenotypes showed that 18:1 levels are regulated via acylation with G3P and a balance between G3P and 18:1 is critical for the regulation of defense signaling pathways. To establish a role for 18:1 and G3P during host defense, interaction between Colletotrichum higginsianum and Arabidopsis was studied. Resistance to C. higginsianum correlated with host G3P levels. The gly1 plants showed increased susceptibility while act1 plants, defective in utilization of G3P, showed enhanced resistance. Plant overexpessing GLY1 showed enhanced resistance in both wild type as well as camalexin deficient backgrounds. Together, these results suggested that G3P conferred resistance acted downstream or independent of camalexin. Exogenous application of glycerol lowered 18:1 levels and produced ssi2-like phenotypes in wild-type plants. Furthermore, glycerol application or the ssi2 mutation produced similar phenotypes in fatty acid desaturation mutants and mutants defective in SA/resistance gene signaling. Expression studies showed that ssi2 phenotypes were likely due to increased expression of resistance genes. Epistatic analysis suggested that certain components of SA pathway had redundant function and were required for 18:1-regulated signaling.