Abstract
Fungi are essential members across ecosystems yet also pose significant risks to crops and human health. To thrive in microbial consortia, a fungal organism must integrate the perception of both inter- and intra-species signals. Here we present a Yeast Mating Platform (YeMaP) to decipher cell-cell communication based on fungal G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and pheromone peptides. We use YeMaP to investigate the influence of abiotic factors on cell-cell communication in multiplex and for high-throughput screening of pheromone sequences to identify peptides with improved potency or antagonism action. Additionally, we demonstrate that the plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum GPCR-pheromone interaction is robust across abiotic conditions, and that it can be disrupted by pheromone supplementation to promote the communication of non-pathogenic fungal GPCRs in consortia. Taken together, YeMaP is a useful tool for deciphering the complexity of fungal GPCR-based cell-cell communication and for guiding the design of future crop pest- and disease-management programs.
Competing Interest Statement
M.K.J. has financial interests in Biomia Aps. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Footnotes
Main text edits, supplementary figures, author contributions.
