title: MoDUO1, a Duo1-like gene, is required for full virulence of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
abstract: Duo1, a major component of the Dam1 complex which has been found in two species of yeast (the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae and the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe), is involved in mitosis-related chromosome segregation, while its relevance to pathogenicity in filamentous fungi remains unclear. This report elucidated this very fact in the case of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. A gene designated MoDUO1 that encodes a Duo1-like homolog (MoDuo1) was discovered in the M. oryzae genome. Two types of MoDUO1 mutants were obtained using genetic approaches of Agrobacterium-mediated gene disruption and homologous recombination. Both disruption and deletion of MoDUO1 can exert profound effects on the formation pattern of conidiophores and conidial morphology, such as abnormal nucleic numbers in conidia and delayed extension of infectious hyphae. Intriguingly, plant infection assays demonstrated that inactivation of MoDUO1 significantly attenuates the virulence in its natural host rice leaves, and functional complementation can restore it. Subcellular localization assays showed that MoDuo1 is mainly distributed in the cytosol of fungal cells. Proteomics-based investigation revealed that the expression of four mitosis-related proteins is shut down in the MoDUO1 mutant, suggesting that MoDuo1 may have a function in mitosis. In light of the fact that Duo1 orthologs are widespread in plant and human fungal pathogens, our finding may represent a common mechanism underlying fungal virulence. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of linking a Duo1-like homolog to the pathogenesis of a pathogenic fungus, which might provide clues to additional studies on the role of Dam1 complex in M. oryzae and its interaction with rice.
authors: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources and Key Laboratory for Microbial and Plant Genetic Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, People's Republic of China.
authors: Haowen
authors: H
authors: Peng
authors: Youjun
authors: Y
authors: Feng
authors: Xiaohui
authors: X
authors: Zhu
authors: Xiuwan
authors: X
authors: Lan
authors: Mei
authors: M
authors: Tang
authors: Jinzi
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Haitao
authors: H
authors: Dong
authors: Baoshan
authors: B
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D012275:Oryza / Q000382:microbiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D040901:Proteomics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D037521:Virulence Factors