title: The Magas1 gene is involved in pathogenesis by affecting penetration in Metarhizium acridum.
abstract: Appressorium is a specialized infection structure of filamentous pathogenic fungi and plays an important role in establishing a pathogenic relationship with the host. The Egh16/Egh16H family members are involved in appressorium formation and pathogenesis in pathogenic filamentous fungi. In this study, a homolog of Egh16H, Magas1, was identified from an entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium acridum. The Magas1 protein shared a number of conserved motifs with other Egh16/Egh16H family members and specifically expressed during the appressorium development period. Magas1-EGFP fusion expression showed that Magas1 protein was not localized inside the cell. Deletion of the Magas1 gene had no impact on vegetative growth, conidiation and appressorium formation, but resulted in a decreased mortality of host insect when topically inoculated. However, the mortality was not significant between the Magas1 deletion mutant and wild-type treatment when the cuticle was bypassed by injecting conidia directly into the hemocoel. Our results suggested that Magas1 may influence virulence by affecting the penetration of the insects' cuticle.
authors.affiliation: Genetic Engineering Research Center, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Fungal Insecticides and Key Laboratory of Functional Gene and Regulation Technologies under Chongqing Municipal Education Commission, Chongqing, 400030, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yueqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Xiangxian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Run
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Yuxian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000818:Animals; D019677:Artificial Gene Fusion; D001681:Biological Assay; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology*; D052981:Metarhizium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D016019:Survival Analysis; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins