The APSES protein family includes important transcriptional regulators of morphological processes in ascomycetes. We identified a deletion mutant of the APSES protein Mstu1 in Magnaporthe grisea that showed reduced conidiation and mycelial growth. Mstu1 formed a number of appressoria comparable to the wild type, although appressorium formation was delayed. In M. grisea, rapid transfer of conidial glycogen and lipid droplets to incipient appressoria is required for appressorial turgor generation, which the fungus uses to penetrate plant cuticles. Appressorial turgor was low in mstu1 and the mutant was deficient in appressorium-mediated invasion of rice leaves. The transfer of conidial glycogen and lipid droplets was remarkably delayed in mstu1, and a consequent delay in degradation of these conidial reserves was observed. Our results indicate that Mstu1 is required for appressorium-mediated infection due to its involvement in the mobilization of lipids and glycogen.
Coprinopsis phlyctidospora (syn: Coprinus phlyctidosporus) from the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia can be segregated into two groups, northern and southern, based on the nucleotide sequences of their ITS regions. The mating type of a C. phlyctidospora isolate was tetrapolar. Mating reactions were compatible between monokaryotic testers derived from basidiospores of a Japanese isolate and dikaryotic isolates obtained from a wide geographic area in Japan. In contrast, mating between the Japanese monokaryotic and dikaryotic isolates from Australia and New Zealand were incompatible. These results indicated that C. phlyctidospora was complex and individuals currently recognized as C. phlyctidospora in the Northern Hemisphere and those in the Southern Hemisphere are distinct taxa. The relationship between the clades and the biogeography of the C. phlyctidospora complex are also discussed.
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