title: Impact of the UPR on the virulence of the plant fungal pathogen A. brassicicola.
abstract: The fungal genus Alternaria contains many destructive plant pathogens, including Alternaria brassicicola, which causes black spot disease on a wide range of Brassicaceae plants and which is routinely used as a model necrotrophic pathogen in studies with Arabidopsis thaliana. During host infection, many fungal proteins that are critical for disease progression are processed in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)/Golgi system and secreted in planta. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is an essential part of ER protein quality control that ensures efficient maturation of secreted and membrane-bound proteins in eukaryotes. This review highlights the importance of the UPR signaling pathway with respect to the ability of A. brassicicola to efficiently accomplish key steps of its pathogenic life cycle. Understanding the pathogenicity mechanisms that fungi uses during infection is crucial for the development of new antifungal therapies. Therefore the UPR pathway has emerged as a promising drug target for plant disease control.
authors.affiliation: Université d'Angers; UMR 1345 IRHS; SFR QUASAV; Angers, France; INRA; UMR 1345 IRHS; Angers, France; Agrocampus-Ouest; UMR 1345 IRHS; Angers, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guillemette
authors.affiliation: Université d'Angers; UMR 1345 IRHS; SFR QUASAV; Angers, France; INRA; UMR 1345 IRHS; Angers, France; Agrocampus-Ouest; UMR 1345 IRHS; Angers, France.
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Calmes
authors.affiliation: Université d'Angers; UMR 1345 IRHS; SFR QUASAV; Angers, France; INRA; UMR 1345 IRHS; Angers, France; Agrocampus-Ouest; UMR 1345 IRHS; Angers, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Simoneau
mesh_terms: D000528:Alternaria / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000382:microbiology; D019607:Brassicaceae / Q000382:microbiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Alternaria brassicicola; null mutants; pathogenicity; seed transmission; unfolded protein response