Abstract
The conserved Dis1/Stu2/XMAP215 microtubule association proteins (MAPs) family plays an important role in microtubule dynamics, nucleation, and kinetochore-microtubule attachments. However, function of Dis1/Stu2/XMAP215 homolog in plant pathogenic fungi has not been determined. Here, we identified and investigated the Dis1/Stu2/XMAP215 homolog (FGSG_10528) in Fusarium graminearum (FgStu2p). Co-localization experiment and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay demonstrated that FgStu2p is a microtubule associated protein. Besides, FgStu2 could also interact with Fgγ-tubulin and presumed FgNdc80, which suggested that the FgStu2 gene might associate with microtubule nucleation and kinetochore-microtubule attachments like Dis1/Stu2/XMAP215 homologs in other species. Moreover, the FgStu2 promoter replacement mutants (FgStu2-Si mutants) produced twisted hyphae and decreased growth rate. Microscope examination further showed that the microtubule polymerization was reduced in FgStu2-Si mutants, which could account for the aberrant morphology. Although the microtubule polymerization was affected in FgStu2-Si mutants, the FgStu2-Si mutants didn’t show highly increased sensitivity to anti-microtubule fungicide carbendazim (methyl benzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate [MBC]). In addition, the FgStu2-Si mutants exhibited curved conidia, decreased number of conidial production, blocked ability of perithecia production, decreased pathogenicity and deoxynivalenol (DON) production. Taken together, these results indicate that the FgStu2 gene plays a crucial role in vegetative growth, morphology, sexual reproduction, asexual reproduction, virulence and deoxynivalenol (DON) production of F. graminearum, which brings new insights into the functions of Dis1/Stu2/XMAP215 homolog in plant pathogenic fungi.
Highlights
Microtubules are hollow cylindrical polymers assembled from α/β-tubulin heterodimers that have a specific behavior: microtubules switch between growing or shrinking states, a property known as dynamic instability, which is vital to many intracellular activities such as mitosis, material transportation and cell morphology (Nogales, 2001; Tischfield et al, 2010; Aher and Akhmanova, 2018)
Dis/Stu2/XMAP215 family is essential for microtubule polymerization and function of kinetochore and disrupt these gene is fatal for the cell
The FgStu2 gene is predicted to encode an 888 amino acids protein (FgStu2p) which is similar with the lengths of S. cerevisiae Stu2 and S. pombe Dis1 (Figure 1A)
Summary
Microtubules are hollow cylindrical polymers assembled from α/β-tubulin heterodimers that have a specific behavior: microtubules switch between growing or shrinking states, a property known as dynamic instability, which is vital to many intracellular activities such as mitosis, material transportation and cell morphology (Nogales, 2001; Tischfield et al, 2010; Aher and Akhmanova, 2018). TOG domain could bind to α/β-tubulin heterodimers and is essential for microtubule polymerization activity of Dis/Stu2/XMAP215 family (Ayaz et al, 2012; Geyer et al, 2018). The Dis1/Stu2/XMAP215 family could act together with other MAPs such as end binding 1 (EB1) to regulate microtubule dynamics (Zanic et al, 2013). The Dis1/stu2/XMAP215 family associates with the Ndc kinetochore complex and regulates the kinetochore-microtubule attachment which is vital for cytokinesis (Hsu and Toda, 2011; Miller et al, 2016). Recent studies showed that the Dis1/stu2/XMAP215 family is a microtubule nucleation factor that functions synergistically with the γ-tubulin ring complex (Thawani et al, 2018). In this study, we investigated the functions of Dis/Stu2/XMAP215 family homolog in Fusarium graminearum (FgStu2)
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