Sulfatases are commonly divided into three classes: type I, type II, and type III sulfatases. The type III sulfatase, alkylsulfatase, could hydrolyze the primary alkyl sulfates, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodium octyl sulfate. Thus, it has the potential application of
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Sulfatases are commonly divided into three classes: type I, type II, and type III sulfatases. The type III sulfatase, alkylsulfatase, could hydrolyze the primary alkyl sulfates, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodium octyl sulfate. Thus, it has the potential application of SDS biodegradation. However, the roles of alkylsulfatase in biological control fungus remain unclear. In this study, an alkylsulfatase gene
MaAts was identified from
Metarhizium acridum. The deletion strain (Δ
MaAts) and the complemented strain (CP) were constructed to reveal their functions in
M. acridum. The activity of alkylsulfatase in Δ
MaAts was dramatically reduced compared to the wild-type (WT) strain. The loss of
MaAts delayed conidial germination, conidiation, and significantly declined the fungal tolerances to UV-B irradiation and heat-shock, while the fungal conidial yield and virulence were unaffected in
M. acridum. The transcription levels of stress resistance-related genes were significantly changed after
MaAts inactivation. Furthermore, digital gene expression profiling showed that 512 differential expression genes (DEGs), including 177 up-regulated genes and 335 down-regulated genes in Δ
MaAts, were identified. Of these DEGs, some genes were involved in melanin synthesis, cell wall integrity, and tolerances to various stresses. These results indicate that
MaAts and the DEGs involved in fungal stress tolerances may be candidate genes to be adopted to improve the stress tolerances of mycopesticides.
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