A C2H2 Zinc Finger Protein PlCZF1 Is Necessary for Oospore Development and Virulence in Peronophythora litchii.

Honghui Zhu,Pinggen Xi,Junjian Situ,Guanghui Kong,Tianfang Guan,Zide Jiang,Ziyuan Dou

doi:10.3390/ijms23052733

Honghui Zhu, Pinggen Xi + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23052733

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Abstract

C2H2 zinc finger is one of the most common motifs found in the transcription factors (TFs) in eukaryotes organisms, which have a broad range of functions, such as regulation of growth and development, stress tolerance and pathogenicity. Here, PlCZF1 was identified to encode a C2H2 zinc finger in the litchi downy blight pathogen Peronophythora litchii. PlCZF1 is conserved in P. litchii and Phytophthora species. In P. litchii, PlCZF1 is highly expressed in sexual developmental and early infection stages. We generated Δplczf1 mutants using the CRISPR/Cas9 method. Compared with the wild type, the Δplczf1 mutants showed no significant difference in vegetative growth and asexual reproduction, but were defective in oospore development and virulence. Further experiments revealed that the transcription of PlM90, PlLLP and three laccase encoding genes were down-regulated in the Δplczf1 mutant. Our results demonstrated that PlCZF1 is a vital regulator for sexual development and pathogenesis in P. litchii.

Highlights

To regulate a wide range of physiological processes, organisms utilize transcription factors (TFs) to activate or repress gene transcription by binding to specific DNA sites
Based on the sequence of C2H2 zinc finger encoding gene PsCZF1 in p. sojae (GenBank ID: EU912575.1) [15] and the available genome data of P. litchii [20], we identified a gene the most identical to the PsCZF1 in sequence and named it Peronophythora litchii C2H2 zinc finger 1 (PlCZF1)
The structural analysis showed that PlCZF1 contains a bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) domain followed by four Znf-C2H2 domains (Figure 1A)

Summary

Introduction

To regulate a wide range of physiological processes, organisms utilize transcription factors (TFs) to activate or repress gene transcription by binding to specific DNA sites. C2H2 zinc fingers are the most common DNAbinding motifs found in eukaryotic transcription factors, and have been identified in prokaryotes [8]. The classical C2H2 zinc fingers contain a short beta hairpin and an alpha helix, where a single zinc atom is held in place by Cysteine2Histidine (C2H2) residues in a tetrahedral array [9]. They can be divided into three groups based on the number and pattern of fingers: triple-C2H2 (binds single ligand), multiple-adjacent-C2H2 (binds multiple ligands), and separated paired-C2H2 [10]. C2H2 zinc fingers have a broad range of functions, such as regulation of growth and development, stress tolerance and pathogenesis in eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms [11,12]

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