Identification and Functional Analysis of the Pheromone Response Factor Gene of Sporisorium scitamineum

Guining Zhu; Guining Zhu; Yizhen Deng; Enping Cai; Meixin Yan; Meixin Yan; Guobing Cui; Zhiqiang Wang; Chengwu Zou; Bin Zhang; Pinggen Xi; Changqing Chang; Baoshan Chen; Zide Jiang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.02115

Frontiers in Microbiology (Sep 2019)

Identification and Functional Analysis of the Pheromone Response Factor Gene of Sporisorium scitamineum

Guining Zhu,
Guining Zhu,
Yizhen Deng,
Enping Cai,
Meixin Yan,
Meixin Yan,
Guobing Cui,
Zhiqiang Wang,
Chengwu Zou,
Bin Zhang,
Pinggen Xi,
Changqing Chang,
Baoshan Chen,
Zide Jiang

Affiliations

Guining Zhu: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Guining Zhu: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biology for Crop Diseases and Insect Pests, Plant Protection Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, China
Yizhen Deng: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Enping Cai: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Meixin Yan: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Meixin Yan: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biology for Crop Diseases and Insect Pests, Plant Protection Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, China
Guobing Cui: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Zhiqiang Wang: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
Chengwu Zou: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
Bin Zhang: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Pinggen Xi: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Changqing Chang: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Baoshan Chen: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
Zide Jiang: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02115
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10

Abstract

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The sugarcane smut fungus Sporisorium scitamineum is bipolar and produces sporidia of two different mating types. During infection, haploid cells of opposite mating types can fuse to form dikaryotic hyphae that can colonize plant tissue. Mating and filamentation are therefore essential for S. scitamineum pathogenesis. In this study, we obtained one T-DNA insertion mutant disrupted in the gene encoding the pheromone response factor (Prf1), hereinafter named SsPRF1, of S. scitamineum, via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) mutagenesis. Targeted deletion of SsPRF1 resulted in mutants with phenotypes similar to the T-DNA insertion mutant, including failure to mate with a compatible wild-type partner strain and being non-pathogenic on its host sugarcane. qRT-PCR analyses showed that SsPRF1 was essential for the transcription of pheromone-responsive mating type genes of the a1 locus. These results show that SsPRF1 is involved in mating and pathogenicity and plays a key role in pheromone signaling and filamentous growth in S. scitamineum.

Published in Frontiers in Microbiology

ISSN: 1664-302X (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Microbiology
Website: http://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology

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