title: Gene disruption of an arabinofuranosidase/beta-xylosidase precursor decreases Sclerotinia sclerotiorum virulence on canola tissue.
abstract: Although Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary has been studied extensively, there are still aspects of this important phytopathogen's ability to cause disease in susceptible plants that remain unclear. A recent comprehensive proteome-level investigation of this fungus identified a number of proteins whose functions in disease initiation and progression have not been clearly established. Included among these proteins was an arabinofuranosidase/beta-xylosidase precursor whose role as a potential virulence factor had not been investigated previously. This article describes the generation of gene-disrupted mutant S. sclerotiorum unable to produce this arabinofuranosidase/beta-xylosidase precursor as well as the comparison of the virulence of this mutant with that of wild-type mycelia on susceptible canola leaves and stems. At all time points tested, the degree of necrosis was observed to be significantly greater on the plant tissue inoculated with wild-type mycelia. To our knowledge, this is the first report that clearly demonstrates that this arabinofuranosidase/beta-xylosidase precursor is a virulence factor for S. sclerotiorum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yajima
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Nat N V
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Kav
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D029688:Brassica napus / Q000382:microbiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D014995:Xylosidases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D014995:Xylosidases; C026579:exo-1,4-beta-D-xylosidase; C019713:alpha-N-arabinofuranosidase