Abstract
The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) proteins family is one of the largest and most diverse transcription factors, widely distributed in eukaryotes. However, no information is available regarding the bZIP gene family in Coniothyrium minitans, an important biocontrol agent of the plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. In this study, we identified 34 bZIP genes from the C. minitans genome, which were classified into 8 groups based on their phylogenetic relationships. Intron analysis showed that 28 CmbZIP genes harbored a variable number of introns, and 15 of them shared a feature that intron inserted into the bZIP domain. The intron position in bZIP domain was highly conserved, which was related to recognize the arginine (R) and could be treated as a genomic imprinting. Expression analysis of the CmbZIP genes in response to abiotic stresses indicated that they might play distinct roles in abiotic stress responses. Results showed that 22 CmbZIP genes were upregulated during the later stage of conidial development. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis indicated that CmbZIP genes are involved in different stages of mycoparasitism. Among deletion mutants of four CmbZIPs (CmbZIP07, -09, -13, and -16), only ΔCmbZIP16 mutants significantly reduced its tolerance to the oxidative stress. The other mutants exhibited no significant effects on colony morphology, mycelial growth, conidiation, and mycoparasitism. Taken together, our results suggested that CmbZIP genes play important roles in the abiotic stress responses, conidial development, and mycoparasitism. These results provide comprehensive information of the CmbZIP gene family and lay the foundation for further research on the bZIP gene family regarding their biological functions and evolutionary history.
Highlights
Coniothyrium minitans Campbell is a mycoparasite of the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum [1,2]
Basic leucine zipper protein is a category of key transcription factors unique to eukaryotes, and this gene family plays an important role in the process of development and various stress responses
Veri-bZIPx-5 -F and Veri-5 -R and Veri-3 -F and Veri-bZIPx-3 -R were used to test whether the 5 flanking sequences and 3 flanking sequences of CmbZIP genes had homologous recombined with hygromycin phosphotransferase gene (HYG) or not, respectively
Summary
Coniothyrium minitans Campbell is a mycoparasite of the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum [1,2]. Basic leucine zipper (bZIP) protein is a category of key transcription factors unique to eukaryotes, and this gene family plays an important role in the process of development and various stress responses. YAP1 is required for oxidative stress tolerance [40,41,42,43], Atf affected osmotic stress [44,45,46,47], FlbB mediated asexual development and gliotoxin production [48,49], Hac answered for unfolded protein response [50,51,52,53] MeaB involved in nitrogen metabolite repression [52,53,54,55,56], and so on These results indicated that the bZIP transcription factors have diverse functions and conservative evolution. These results provide foundation for further investigation into the biological functions of the bZIP transcription factor genes in C. minitans
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
