title: A novel protein Com1 is required for normal conidium morphology and full virulence in Magnaporthe oryzae.
abstract: In Magnaporthe oryzae, pyriform conidia are the primary inoculum and the main source for disease dissemination in the field. In this study, we identified and characterized the COM1 gene that was disrupted in three insertional mutants producing slender conidia. COM1 encodes a putative transcription regulator unique to filamentous ascomycetes. The com1 disruption and deletion mutants had similar defects in conidium morphology and were significantly reduced in virulence on rice and barley seedlings. Microscopic examination revealed that the Deltacom1 mutants were defective in appressorium turgor generation, penetration, and infectious growth. COM1 was expressed constitutively in M. oryzae. The Com1 protein had putative helix-loop-helix structures and three predicted nuclear localization signal sequences. In transformants expressing COM1(335-613)-enhanced green fluorescent protein fusion constructs, fluorescence signals were observed in the nucleus. Our data indicated that the COM1 gene may encode a novel transcription regulator that regulates conidial development and invasive growth in M. oryzae.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and MOA Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultureal University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Yang
authors: Xiaoyan
authors: X
authors: Zhao
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Sun
authors: Zhensheng
authors: Z
authors: Kang
authors: Shengli
authors: S
authors: Ding
authors: Jin-Rong
authors: JR
authors: Xu
authors: You-Liang
authors: YL
authors: Peng
mesh_terms: D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D001467:Hordeum / Q000382:microbiology; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D019697:Onions / Q000382:microbiology; D012275:Oryza / Q000382:microbiology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins