title: Pleiotropic function of the putative zinc-finger protein MoMsn2 in Magnaporthe oryzae.
abstract: The mitogen-activated protein kinase MoOsm1-mediated osmoregulation pathway plays crucial roles in stress responses, asexual and sexual development, and pathogenicity in Magnaporthe oryzae. Utilizing an affinity purification approach, we identified the putative transcriptional activator MoMsn2 as a protein that interacts with MoOsm1 in vivo. Disruption of the MoMSN2 gene resulted in defects in aerial hyphal growth, conidial production, and infection of host plants. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the expression of several genes involved in conidiophore formation was reduced in ΔMomsn2, suggesting that MoMsn2 might function as a transcriptional regulator of these genes. Subsequently, MoCos1 was identified as one of the MoMsn2 targets through yeast one-hybrid analysis in which MoMsn2 binds to the AGGGG and CCCCT motif of the MoCOS1 promoter region. Phenotypic characterization showed that MoMsn2 was required for appressorium formation and penetration and pathogenicity. Although the ΔMomsn2 mutant was tolerant to the cell-wall stressor Calcofluor white, it was sensitive to common osmotic stressors. Further analysis suggests that MoMsn2 is involved in the regulation of the cell-wall biosynthesis pathway. Finally, transcriptome data revealed that MoMsn2 modulates numerous genes participating in conidiation, infection, cell-wall integrity, and stress response. Collectively, our results led to a model in which MoMsn2 mediates a series of downstream genes that control aerial hyphal growth, conidiogenesis, appressorium formation, cell-wall biosynthesis, and infection and that also offer potential targets for the development of new disease management strategies.
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xianxian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Zhongqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Yanhan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Wenwu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhengguang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D025301:Hyphae; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs; D012275:Oryza / Q000382:microbiology*; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D010641:Phenotype; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000382:microbiology; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013172:Spores, Fungal; D059467:Transcriptome; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases