Arabidopsis thaliana accumulates DHEA after infection with phytopathogenic fungi - effects on plants and fungi

Progestogens and androgens have been found in many plants, but their physiological functions remain unclear. We here show that the dehydroepiandrosterone, a C19-steroid, accumulates during infection of A. thaliana with the pathogenic fungus A. brassicicola. Moreover, dehydroepiandrosterone inhibits growth of the A. brassicicola in an ergosterol-independent way. We hypothesize that this is caused by an infection-adapted metabolism of A. thaliana as part of stress-response. Overall design: Dehydroepiandrosterone was applied exogenously to analyze the effects of this androgen on development and gene expression of Arabidopsis thaliana. Moreover, we analyzed growth, sterol pattern and membrane-integrity of Alternaria brassicicola confronted with dehydroepiandrosterone. Comparative gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of A. thaliana leaves under three different conditions.