Abstract
Gibberella zeae is an important pathogen of major cereal crops. The fungus produces ascospores that forcibly discharge from mature fruiting bodies, which serve as the primary inocula for disease epidemics. In this study, we characterized an insertional mutant Z39P105 with a defect in sexual development and identified a gene encoding a putative transcription factor designated as MYT1. This gene contains a Myb DNA-binding domain and is conserved in the subphylum Pezizomycotina of Ascomycota. The MYT1 protein fused with green fluorescence protein localized in nuclei, which supports its role as a transcriptional regulator. The MYT1 deletion mutant showed similar phenotypes to the wild-type strain in vegetative growth, conidia production and germination, virulence, and mycotoxin production, but had defect in female fertility. A mutant overexpressing MYT1 showed earlier germination, faster mycelia growth, and reduced mycotoxin production compared to the wild-type strain, suggesting that improper MYT1 expression affects the expression of genes involved in the cell cycle and secondary metabolite production. This study is the first to characterize a transcription factor containing a Myb DNA-binding domain that is specific to sexual development in G. zeae.
Highlights
The ascomycete fungus Gibberella zeae is an important plant pathogen that causes Fusarium head blight (FHB) in cereal crops and Fusarium ear and stalk rot in maize throughout the world [1]
Identification of Myb DNA-binding domain containing transcription factor 1 (MYT1) The restriction enzyme-mediated integration (REMI) mutant strain Z39P105 produced a few protoperithecia without significant defects in vegetative growth (Figure 1A)
We identified and characterized a putative transcription factor MYT1, which has a specific function during sexual development in G. zeae
Summary
The ascomycete fungus Gibberella zeae (anamorph: Fusarium graminearum) is an important plant pathogen that causes Fusarium head blight (FHB) in cereal crops and Fusarium ear and stalk rot in maize throughout the world [1]. The infection of this fungus leads to severe yield losses and accumulation of mycotoxins, such as trichothecenes and zearalenone, that are harmful to humans and livestock [2]. G. zeae produces sexual spores (ascospores) and asexual spores (conidia) Both spores contribute to the disease propagation, ascospores that are forcibly discharged from mature fruiting bodies (perithecia) serve as the primary inocula for the epidemics of FHB in cereal crops [3,4]. High genetic diversity of virulence-related genes is thought to provide G. zeae with a great capacity for adaptability toward host plants [9]
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