Inhibitory mechanism of butylated hydroxyanisole against infection of Fusarium proliferatum based on comparative proteomic analysis

Fusarium proliferatum as a filamentous fungal pathogen can produce mycotoxins that can contaminate postharvest fruits and thus impact risks on human health. The extracellular proteomes of F . proliferatum grown in the absence and presence of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) were analyzed comparatively. A total of 66 significantly different expressed secreted proteins were identified by LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis. The BHA treatment suppressed the accumulation of some pathogenic factors such as aspartic protease , cell wall degradation enzymes , porin , superoxide dismutase and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. On the contrary, the BHA treatment increased the abundances of some proteins, such as ATP binding cassette transporter substrate-binding protein and lipopolysaccharide-assembly lipoprotein , involved in the growth of F . proliferatum . These findings suggest that BHA treatment could influence the pathogenic ability of F . proliferatum via inhibiting the levels of virulence factors and cell wall degradation-associated enzymes . Moreover, the induction of the growth-related proteins after the BHA treatment suggests that the livelihood of F . proliferatum might depend on the cost of reduced pathogenic ability. This study has provided some evidence for understanding the complicated mechanisms of F . proliferatum infection in an effort to develop new targets for the control of this fungal pathogen. Biological significance To better understand the inhibitory mechanism of F . proliferatum by butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) treatment, a comprehensive proteomic analysis of the secreted proteins of F . proliferatum was firstly conducted. Among the 66 identified spots, 34 and 32 proteins were down- and up-accumulated significantly by BHA treatment, respectively. Many of the identified key protein species were involved in the pathogenic ability and the growth of F . proliferatum . This study is helpful for broadening our knowledge of the pathogenic mechanism of F . proliferatum .