A novel transcription factor UvCGBP1 regulates development and virulence of rice false smut fungus Ustilaginoidea virens

Xiaoyang Chen, Pingping Li, Hao Liu, Xiaolin Chen, Junbin Huang, Chaoxi Luo, Guotian Li, Tom Hsiang, David B. Collinge, Lu Zheng*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)
29 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Ustilaginoidea virens, causing rice false smut (RFS) is an economically important ascomycetous fungal pathogen distributed in rice-growing regions worldwide. Here, we identified a novel transcription factor UvCGBP1 (Cutinase G-box binding protein) from this fungus, which is unique to ascomycetes. Deletion of UvCGBP1 affected development and virulence of U. virens. A total of 865 downstream target genes of UvCGBP1 was identified using ChIP-seq and the most significant KEGG enriched functional pathway was the MAPK signaling pathway. Approximately 36% of target genes contain the AGGGG (G-box) motif in their promoter. Among the targets, deletion of UvCGBP1 affected transcriptional and translational levels of UvPmk1 and UvSlt2, both of which were important in virulence. ChIP-qPCR, yeast one-hybrid and EMSA confirmed that UvCGBP1 can bind the promoter of UvPmk1 or UvSlt2. Overexpression of UvPmk1 in the ∆UvCGBP1-33 mutant restored partially its virulence and hyphae growth, indicating that UvCGBP1 could function via the MAPK pathway to regulate fungal virulence. Taken together, this study uncovered a novel regulatory mechanism of fungal virulence linking the MAPK pathway mediated by a G-box binding transcription factor, UvCGBP1.

Original languageEnglish
JournalVirulence
Volume12
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)1563-1579
Number of pages17
ISSN2150-5594
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • ChIP-seq
  • MAPK pathway
  • Ustilaginoidea virens
  • UvCGBP1
  • virulence

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