MoTup1 is required for growth, conidiogenesis and pathogenicity of Magnaporthe oryzae

Abstract

The general transcriptional repressor Tup1 proteins play important regulatory roles in the growth and development of fungi. In this report, we characterized MoTup1, a protein homologous to Tup1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, from M. oryzae. Disruption of MoTUP1 resulted in severe mycelial growth reduction and a defect in conidiogenesis. We found that MoTup1 is required for the maintenance of cell wall integrity by regulating the expression of the genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis. Pathogenicity assays indicated that the ΔMotup1 mutants lost the ability to invade both rice and barley hosts. Moreover, observation of rice epidermis penetration showed that the hyphal tips of the mutants could still form appressorium-like structures, but were unable to invade host cells. Taken together, our results demonstrate that M. oryzae MoTup1 is an important regulatory factor in fungal growth, development and pathogenesis on hosts.

Verticillium dahliae transcription factor VdFTF1 regulates the expression of multiple secreted virulence factors and is required for full virulence in cotton

“…TFs are vital for cellular processes via the regulation of gene expression. In fungi, a number of TFs that regulate important processes, such as pathogenicity and virulence, vegetative growth, conidial production, colony morphology and secondary metabolism, have been characterized, and some have been found to be involved in the regulation of multiple processes (Chen et al, 2015;Luo et al, 2016;Okmen et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2011;Zhao et al, 2011). In V. dahliae, TFs such as VdSge1 also exhibit pleiotropic effects, including the requirement for radial growth, conidial production and pathogenicity .…”

“…Transcription factors (TFs) regulate the rate of expression of genes required for disparate biological processes under different conditions and play important roles in fungal pathogenesis (Chen et al, 2015;Okmen et al, 2014;Ramos et al, 2007;de Vega-Bartol et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2011;Zhao et al, 2011). The reference genome of V. dahliae strain VdLs.17 is predicted to encode 530 TFs classified into 42 TF families Park et al, 2008).…”

Fatty Acid Synthase Beta Dehydratase in the Lipid Biosynthesis Pathway Is Required for Conidiogenesis, Pigmentation and Appressorium Formation in Magnaporthe oryzae S6

“…In Magnaporthe , the degradation of lipid reserves remains an important role in turgor pressure generation in appressorium during infection [ 67 ]. Across different organisms, including yeast, bacteria and fungi, fatty acid β-oxidation occurs primarily within the peroxisomes.…”

MoYcp4 is required for growth, conidiogenesis and pathogenicity in Magnaporthe oryzae

“…Approximately 6-cm-long diseased rice blades were photographed to evaluate the virulence of the mutants (Chen et al, 2014b). For microscopic observation of penetration and infectious hyphal expansion on rice and barley tissue, rice was inoculated with 100 mL of conidial suspension (5 3 10 4 spores/mL) on inner leaf sheath cuticle cells and barley was inoculated with 30 mL of conidial suspension (5 3 10 4 spores/mL) on the underside of the leaves; after 48 h (rice) and 24 h (barley) of incubation under humid conditions at 28 8C, the leaf sheaths and barley leaves were observed under a microscope (Chen et al, 2015).…”