The tetraspanin gene ClPLS1 is essential for appressorium-mediated penetration of the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum.
Conservation of the molecular mechanisms controlling appressorium-mediated penetration during evolution was assessed through a functional study of the ClPLS1 gene from Colletotrichum lindemuthianum orthologous to the MgPLS1 from Magnaporthe grisea, involved in penetration peg development. These two plant-pathogenic Pyrenomycetes differentiate appressoria to penetrate into plant tissues. We showed that ClPLS1 is a functional homologue of MgPLS1 in M. grisea. Loss of ClPLS1 function had no effect on vegetative growth, conidiation or on appressorium differentiation and maturation. However, Clpls1::hph mutants are non-pathogenic on either intact or wounded bean leaves, as a result of a defect in the formation and/or positioning of the penetration pore and consequently in the formation of the penetration peg. These observations suggest that the fungal tetraspanins control a conserved appressorial function that could be required for the correct localization of the site where the penetration peg emerges.
Veneault-Fourrey
Claire
C
UMR CNRS/UPS 8618, Laboratoire de Phytopathologie Moléculaire, Institut de Biotechnologie des Plantes, Bât. 630, Université ParisXI, 91405 Orsay cedex, France. C.Veneault-Fourrey@exeter.ac.uk
Parisot
Denise
D
Gourgues
Mathieu
M
Laugé
Richard
R
Lebrun
Marc-Henri
MH
Langin
Thierry
T
D002454:Cell Differentiation; D020231:Colletotrichum / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000382:microbiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D056229:Fungal Structures; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D020043:Genes, Essential; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000382:microbiology
D005656:Fungal Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins