title: A novel sterol regulatory element-binding protein gene (sreA) identified in penicillium digitatum is required for prochloraz resistance, full virulence and erg11 (cyp51) regulation.
abstract: Penicillium digitatum is the most destructive postharvest pathogen of citrus fruits, causing fruit decay and economic loss. Additionally, control of the disease is further complicated by the emergence of drug-resistant strains due to the extensive use of triazole antifungal drugs. In this work, an orthologus gene encoding a putative sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) was identified in the genome of P. digitatum and named sreA. The putative SreA protein contains a conserved domain of unknown function (DUF2014) at its carboxyl terminus and a helix-loop-helix (HLH) leucine zipper DNA binding domain at its amino terminus, domains that are functionally associated with SREBP transcription factors. The deletion of sreA (ΔsreA) in a prochloraz-resistant strain (PdHS-F6) by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation led to increased susceptibility to prochloraz and a significantly lower EC50 value compared with the HS-F6 wild-type or complementation strain (COsreA). A virulence assay showed that the ΔsreA strain was defective in virulence towards citrus fruits, while the complementation of sreA could restore the virulence to a large extent. Further analysis by quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated that prochloraz-induced expression of cyp51A and cyp51B in PdHS-F6 was completely abolished in the ΔsreA strain. These results demonstrate that sreA is a critical transcription factor gene required for prochloraz resistance and full virulence in P. digitatum and is involved in the regulation of cyp51 expression.
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Yongze
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Yuanlei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Science, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Deli
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002957:Citrus / Q000382:microbiology; D025141:Drug Resistance, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal / Q000187:drug effects; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010407:Penicillium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D058886:Sterol 14-Demethylase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051779:Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial; D007093:Imidazoles; D051779:Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins; C045362:prochloraz; D058886:Sterol 14-Demethylase