It is demonstrated that VdPRMT1 is required for normal fungal development and full virulence in V. dahliae, and suggested that arginine methylation may contribute to pathogenicity through regulation of RNA processing-related pathways.
Abstract
Highlights This VdPRMT1 is a conserved arginine methyltransferase in Verticillium dahliae. VdPRMT1 contributes to fungal growth, stress adaptation, carbon utilization, and virulence. HIGS-mediated silencing of VdPRMT1 reduces Verticillium wilt severity in cotton. VdPRMT1 interacts with VdLuc7, indicating a potential link to RNA processing. Abstract Protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) are key regulators of diverse cellular processes in eukaryotes, including transcriptional regulation, RNA processing, signal transduction and DNA repair. However, the biological functions of PRMTs in Verticillium dahliae remain largely unexplored. In this study, we identified a PRMT1 homolog in V. dahliae. Targeted deletion of VdPRMT1 resulted in severely impaired hyphal growth, sporulation, stress responses and pathogenicity. Subcellular localization analysis showed that VdPRMT1 is distributed in both the nucleus and cytoplasm of hyphae. Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) of VdPRMT1 in cotton significantly reduced disease severity, supporting its important role in pathogenicity. Furthermore, VdLuc7, a U1 snRNP-associated protein containing multiple RG/RGG motifs, was identified as a putative interacting partner of VdPRMT1 through yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screening, bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) and luciferase complementation imaging (LCI) assays. Together, our results demonstrate that VdPRMT1 is required for normal fungal development and full virulence in V. dahliae, and suggest that arginine methylation may contribute to pathogenicity through regulation of RNA processing-related pathways. These findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying fungal virulence and identify VdPRMT1 as a potential target for disease control.
Results indicate that VdRgt1 is an important regulator in V. dahliae, coordinating hyphal development, the timing of microsclerotia development and melanin accumulation, carbon and energy metabolism, stress adaptation, and virulence.
Findings underscore a significant role for VdOMO in siderophore-associated iron acquisition, fungal development, stress adaptation, and the early stages of host colonization in V. dahliae.
Yusha Du, Lixinyu Sun, Kang-Wei Xie et al.· Frontiers in Plant Science· 0 citations
Insight is provided into the regulatory roles of PP2A regulatory subunit SsRts1 in S. scitamineum, and the understanding of PP2A function in plant-pathogenic fungi is expanded.
Jinfeng Qiu, Hao-Ming Wu, Ying Liu et al.· Virulence· 0 citations
The SUN family protein MoSun4 in Magnaporthe oryzae has been previously implicated in mitophagy and has potential as a target for reducing rice blast, but its role as a secreted protein remains poorly understood. In this study, signal peptide prediction and yeast secretion assays confirmed MoSun4 signal peptide function, and co-localization revealed the localization of the extra-invasive hyphal membrane (EIHM)-associated apoplastic compartment or matrix, establishing MoSun4 as a secreted protein. In addition, deletion of the MoSUN4 gene reduced the hyphal growth, conidiation and virulence of M. oryzae. We further showed that MoSun4 is involved in regulating the expression of virulence-related genes, including multiple genes involved in cell wall degradation (eglC, eglD), secondary metabolism (gliK), and melanin biosynthesis (SDH1, BUF1, Cmr1, ALB1). Collectively, our study reveals that MoSun4 is a secreted protein that contributes to pathogenicity and is associated with altered expression of virulence-related genes, providing new insights into the functions of SUN family proteins.
Huimin Li, Zhenhe Su, Xiaomeng Liu et al.· Journal of Fungi· 0 citations
Cotton is an economically important cash crop severely affected by Verticillium wilt caused by Verticillium dahliae. Secreted cell-wall-degrading enzymes act as key virulence factors of this pathogen, yet the biological function of glucan 1,3-β-glucosidase remains largely uncharacterized. The gene VDAG_02814 (designated Vdbgl1) was previously found to be strongly induced during host infection. Here, combined approaches including gene knockout, host-induced gene silencing (HIGS), and transcriptomic analysis were utilized to characterize the function of Vdbgl1. The results showed that Vdbgl1 deletion retarded colony growth on PDA medium by 20.1–21.6%, decreased conidial yield by 20.2–46.7%, lowered spore germination rate by 30.7–32.9%, and weakened utilization of diverse carbon sources by 5.0–14.9%. The ΔVdbgl1 mutants also exhibited significantly increased sensitivity to cell wall-perturbing, osmotic, and membrane-damaging agents. Additionally, the ΔVdbgl1 mutants exhibited reduced disease index by approximately 19.1–27.7% and decreased fungal biomass by 42.7–61.8% in cotton; consistently, HIGS-mediated silencing of Vdbgl1 reduced the disease index by 25.7% and 26.7% and decreased fungal biomass by 48.1–71.5%. Transcriptome profiling of cotton roots infected by the ΔVdbgl1 mutant and the wild-type strain revealed 1007 down-regulated genes enriched in carbohydrate metabolism, cell wall degradation, and energy pathways, including 27 carbohydrate-active enzyme genes and 58 genes encoding cysteine-rich secreted proteins. Collectively, these findings indicated that Vdbgl1 coordinates carbon utilization, cell wall remodeling, and stress responses to regulate fungal development and pathogenicity, representing a promising target for cotton Verticillium wilt control.
Ruixiang Yuan, Yuanjing Li, Yongtai Li et al.· International Journal of Mol...· 0 citations
It is demonstrated that MrFTRP1 exerts a dual-regulatory functioning as a positive regulator of conidiation and pathogenesis but a negative regulator of environmental stress tolerance, which expands the understanding of the regulatory diversity within the C6 TF family and identifies him as a promising target for the genetic improvement of mycoinsecticides.
Chentian Jiang, Hao Wu, You-Gui Tong et al.· Journal of Invertebrate Path...· 0 citations
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