A Gin4-Like Protein Kinase GIL1 Involvement in Hyphal Growth, Asexual Development, and Pathogenesis in Fusarium graminearum

Abstract

Fusarium graminearum is the main causal agent of Fusarium head blight (FHB) on wheat and barley. In a previous study, a GIN4-like protein kinase gene, GIL1, was found to be important for plant infection and sexual reproduction. In this study we further characterized the functions of GIL1 kinase in different developmental processes. The Δgil1 mutants were reduced in growth, conidiation, and virulence, and formed whitish and compact colonies. Although phialide formation was rarely observed in the mutants, deletion of GIL1 resulted in increased hyphal branching and increased tolerance to cell wall and cell membrane stresses. The Δgil1 mutants produced straight, elongated conidia lacking of distinct foot cells and being delayed in germination. Compared with the wild type, some compartments in the vegetative hyphae of Δgil1 mutants had longer septal distances and increased number of nuclei, suggesting GIL1 is related to cytokinesis and septation. Localization of the GIL1-GFP fusion proteins to the septum and hyphal branching and fusion sites further supported its roles in septation and branching. Overall, our results indicate that GIL1 plays a role in vegetative growth and plant infection in F. graminearum, and is involved in septation and hyphal branching.

Biocontrol Efficacy of Endophyte Pseudomonas poae to Alleviate Fusarium Seedling Blight by Refining the Morpho-Physiological Attributes of Wheat

“…Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) is the third-largest food crop after maize and rice [ 1 ]. F. graminearum (Fg) is one of the common fungal diseases that threatens many economic crops, such as wheat, rice, barley, and maize [ 2 , 3 ]. The fungus causes growth and yield losses in wheat by causing Fusarium seedling blight (FSB) and Fusarium head blight (FHB) [ 4 ].…”

UvHOS3‐mediated histone deacetylation is essential for virulence and negatively regulates ustilaginoidin biosynthesis in Ustilaginoidea virens

“…In fungi, delayed hyphal growth can be also associated with increased hyphal branches. For example, deletions of the protein kinase gene Gil1 in A. nidulans and the septin gene AspB in F. graminearum lead to increased hyphal branching and abnormal growth (Hernández‐Rodríguez et al., 2012 ; Yu et al., 2017 ). RNA‐Seq analysis showed that the septin genes UV8b_01520 , UV8b_06116 and UV8b_08253 , and the majority of branching‐associated protein kinase genes were significantly downregulated in the Δ Uvhos3 mutant (Table S5 ).…”

MaOpy2, a Transmembrane Protein, Is Involved in Stress Tolerances and Pathogenicity and Negatively Regulates Conidial Yield by Shifting the Conidiation Pattern in Metarhizium acridum

“…A gene for the serine/threonine-protein kinase GIN4 (MAC_00865) was found to be upregulated. In Fusarium graminearum, the disruption of a GIN4-like protein kinase gene increased the fungal tolerance to cell wall stress [ 27 ], suggesting a possibility that the Gin4 regulation of the fungal tolerance to cell wall stress by MaOpy2 functioned differentially in M. acridum . In addition, ∆ MaOpy2 exhibited a higher susceptibility to the cell-wall-disturbing agent CR, which was consistent with that in C. albicans [ 17 ].…”

“…Table S2: Differentially expressed genes. Table S3: DEGs involved in stress tolerance and conidiation pattern shift [ 26 , 27 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ].…”