Journal
PHYTOPATHOLOGY
Volume 110, Issue 2, Pages 483-493Publisher
AMER PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-05-19-0179-R
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Funding
- National Key Research and Development Program [2017YFD0301400, 2016YFD0300700]
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China [2662018JC051]
- Special Technical Innovation of Hubei Province [2017ABA146]
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Ustilaginoidea virens is an economically important biotrophic fungal pathogen that causes rice false smut worldwide. However, the regulatory mechanisms of smut ball formation under U. virens infection remain unclear. Here, we identified an important transcription factor, UvCom1, from this pathogen, which regulates the formation of smut balls on rice spikelets. UvCom1 contains two conserved internal repeat 1 (RPT) domains and is found only in fungi, with specific conservation in species of Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes. UvCom1 protein N- or C-terminal fusion vectors both showed transactivation activity in yeast. Deletion of UvCom1 significantly affected the vegetative growth and conidiation of U. virens. UvCom1 negatively regulated the responses to oxidative, osmotic, and cell wall stresses. Remarkably, UvCom1 was found to be essential for the formation of rice smut balls, and UvCom1 deletion mutants lost the ability to stably utilize nutrients from the rice host. UvCom1 was also highly expressed at the mycelial expansion stage. Transcriptomic analysis and quantitative real-time PCR revealed that UvCom1 could affect the expression of genes significantly enriched in transmembrane transport. This study demonstrates that UvCom1 is a key transcription factor governing smut ball formation of this biotrophic fungus.
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