Abstract
A new Penicillium digitatum major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter (PdMFS1) was identified and functionally characterized in order to shed more light on the mechanisms underlying fungicide resistance. PdMFS1 can play an important role in the intensification of resistance to fungicides normally used in P. digitatum postharvest treatments. In the PdMFS1 disrupted mutants, a slight effect in response to chemical fungicides was observed, but fungicide sensitivity was highly affected in the overexpression mutants which became resistant to wide range of chemical fungicides. Moreover, P. digitatum knock-out mutants exhibited a lower rate of fungal virulence when infected oranges were stored at 20 °C. Disease symptoms were higher in the PdMFS1 overexpression mutants coming from the low-virulent P. digitatum parental strain. In addition, the gene expression analysis showed an induction of PdMFS1 transcription in all overexpression mutants regardless from which progenitor came from, and four-time intensification of the parental wild type strain during citrus infection reinforcing PdMFS1 role in fungal virulence. The P. digitatum MFS transporter PdMFS1 contributes not only to the acquisition of wide range of fungicide resistance but also in fungal virulence during citrus infection.
Highlights
Penicillium digitatum (Pers.: Fr) Sacc., is responsible for green mold, the most prevalent postharvest disease of citrus fruits [1]
We identified a new P. digitatum major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter that is relevant for acquisition of a wide range of fungicide resistance, and it is important for fungal virulence
We constructed a cDNA library enriched in P. digitatum genes that were induced during citrus fruit infection using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) [21]
Summary
Penicillium digitatum (Pers.: Fr) Sacc., is responsible for green mold, the most prevalent postharvest disease of citrus fruits [1]. Control of this fungus is carried out by synthetic fungicides such as sterol demethylation inhibitors (DMIs), O-phenylphenol, or thiabendazole [2]. The emergence of fungal pathogens resistant to chemical compounds and the negative impact of fungicides on human health have warranted significant research attention in order to develop more effective control strategies. Knowledge of the mechanisms of fungicide resistance has been extensively explored in recent years [3,4,5]. Among all the mechanisms described, the overexpression of efflux pumps of two classes of transporter proteins that included the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) or the major facilitator superfamily
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