Genetic and molecular characterization of a blue light photoreceptor MGWC-1 in Magnaporth oryzae

Fungal photobiology: visible light as a signal for stress, space and time

“…Photo-induced melanization has been observed in numerous ascomycetes including Aspergillus fumigatus (Fuller et al 2013), Magnaporthe oryzae (Kim et al 2011b), Cercospora kikuchii (Bluhm et al 2010), Botrytis cinerea (Canessa et al 2013) and Colletotrichum acutatum (Yu et al 2013), as well as in the basidiomycete mushroom Lentinula edodes (Sano et al 2009). The WCC is presumed to play a major role in melanization for these fungi based on the action spectrum for the response and, in the case of A. fumigatus , has been demonstrated directly through deletion analysis.…”

“…It will be interesting to see how the photoreceptor pathways in this fungus contribute to this response. Conversely, light represses infectivity in the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae and this repression is dependent upon the wc-1 ortholog (Kim et al 2011b). Moreover, the deletion of the wc-1 ortholog leads to attenuated virulence in the gray mold pathogen Botrytis cinerea (Canessa et al 2013) and the maize leaf pathogen Cercospora zae-maydis (Kim et al 2011a).…”

Seeing the world differently: variability in the photosensory mechanisms of two model fungi

“…However, understanding photobiology may have merit in its own right, as the importance of light on agriculturally, industrially and even medically important fungi becomes appreciated. For example, light enhances plant lesion size during infection with Colletotrichum acutatum and Cercospora zeae-maydis , but represses infection with Magnaporthe oryzae (Kim et al , 2011a; Kim et al , 2011b; Yu et al , 2013). It is difficult to dissect the influence of light on the pathogen versus the host in these experiments, but at least in the case of M. oryzae , the light effect is lost upon deletion of wc-1 .…”

Molecular mechanisms regulating plant infection in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae

“…Integrins are transmembrane glycoproteins located at the plasma membrane and act as cell surface receptors modulating the cellular response to environmental stimuli (Shattil, et al, 2010, Kim, et al, 2011. Fibronectin and collagen are extracellular ligands of integrin receptors (Shattil, et al, 2010, Kim, et al, 2011.…”

“…Fibronectin and collagen are extracellular ligands of integrin receptors (Shattil, et al, 2010, Kim, et al, 2011. Externally applied peptides containing Arg-Gly-Asp amino acids and antibodies against fibronectin reduce conidial adhesion and appressorium development indicating that these processes are modulated by integrin-like proteins in M. oryzae.…”