Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici is a phytopathogenic fungus that causes vascular wilt in tomato plants. In this work we analyze the influence of metal salts such as iron and copper sulphate, as well as that of bathophenanthrolinedisulfonic acid (iron chelator) and bathocuproinedisulfonic acid (copper chelator) on the activity of laccases in the intra (IF) and extracellular fractions (EF) of the wild-type and the non-pathogenic mutant strain (rho1::hyg) of F. oxysporum. The results show that laccase activity in the IF fraction of the wild and mutant strain increased with the addition of iron chelator (53.4 and 114.32%; respectively). With copper, it is observed that there is an inhibition of the activity with the addition of CuSO for the EF of the wild and mutant strain (reduction of 82 and 62.6%; respectively) and for the IF of the mutant strain (54.8%). With the copper chelator a less laccase activity in the IF of the mutant strain was observed (reduction of 53.9%). The results obtained suggest a different regulation of intracellular laccases in the mutant strain compared with the wild type in presence of CuSO and copper chelator which may be due to the mutation in the rho gene.

The Rho1 protein is a GTPase that participates in cell wall biogenesis. We analyzed the transcript levels of laccase genes (lccl, lcc2, lcc3, lcc4, lcc5, and lcc9), and a xylanase gene (xyl3) in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici strain 4287 (wild type) and two mutant strains; rhol::hyg that lacks a functional Rho1, and rho1::hyg + rho1 (G14V) that has a constitutively active Rho1. The transcript levels of lcc2, lcc3, lcc5, and xyl3 differed among the three strains, but those of lcc1 and lcc9 did not. Xylanase activities were higher in rho1::hyg than in both the wild type and rho1::hyg + rho1 (G14V) . Laccase activities were significantly higher in the two mutants than in the wild type. Rho1 thus plays a role in regulating xyl3, lcc2, lcc3, and lcc5 at the transcriptional and/or translational level.

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Lycopersici is a phytopathogenic fungus of great economic importance, causing the disease known as fusariosis in the tomato plant. One of the characteristic and initial symptoms of the disease is the yellowing in various areas of the plant; later, the general wilt and finally death of the plant. Several strategies are used to combat the disease caused by this fungus, from chemical methods such as the use of fungicides from the family of benzimidazoles and triazoles as well as biological methods, involving the use of microorganisms such as Pseudomonas, Trichoderma, among others. For this reason, the continued study of this fungus is important to know how it can be controlled.

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici is a fungus responsible for the tomato disease known as fusariosis. Enolase, which is the enzyme that catalyzes the reaction of 2-phosphoglycerate to phosphoenolpyruvate, is present during glycolysis. Enolase genes have been isolated from bacteria and fungi, among other organisms. In this research, a large portion of the enolase, eno, gene sequence was isolated from F. oxysporum and compared with those of other microorganisms, revealing a similarity of 51-69 %. We analyzed the copy number of the eno gene and determined that only a single copy is present in F. oxysporum, as in several fungi, such as Candida albicans and Aspergillus oryzae. We also detected the expression of the eno gene by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction during in vitro growth under two growth conditions where glucose was used as the carbon source, and we observed the same eno gene expression levels under both growth conditions.

In eucaryotic cells, the delivery of a secreted protein to the plasma membrane via vesicles must include transport, recognition, and fusion events. Proteins exposed on the cytoplasmic face of the secretory vesicles play a role in these events; these include the GTP-binding proteins, which are crucial components in this process. Fractions enriched with vesicles carrying glucose oxidase (GOX) activity from Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, a soilborne fungal pathogen causing vascular wilt on tomato plants, were obtained using two successive sucrose gradients, the first a linear-log and the second an isopycnic gradient. In this study, we used the following Fusarium strains: a wild-type and a strain carrying a Δrho1 loss-of-function mutation (presenting dramatically reduced virulence). By ADP-ribosylation with C3 exotoxin, and Western blot analysis with specific antibodies, we identified the small GTPases Rho1, Rho4, Cdc42 and Rab8, and a heterotrimeric Gα protein associated with vesicles carrying GOX activity. This was done for both strains, with the exception of Rho1, which was absent in the mutant strain; in addition, the levels of the Cdc42 protein were observed to be higher in the Δrho1 strain. These data indicate that three Rho proteins, Rho1, Rho4, and Cdc42, are present in secretory vesicles carrying GOX activity in F. oxysporum, and that Rho1 is not essential for the transport and secretion of, at least, cargo proteins carried in secretory vesicles, or Cdc42/Rho4 can fulfill its role in these events.