title: Peroxisomal fission is induced during appressorium formation and is required for full virulence of the rice blast fungus.
abstract: Peroxisomes are involved in various metabolic processes and are important for virulence in different pathogenic fungi. How peroxisomes rapidly emerge in the appressorium during fungal infection is poorly understood. Here, we describe a gene, PEF1, which can regulate peroxisome formation in the appressorium by controlling peroxisomal fission, and is required for plant infection in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Targeted deletion of PEF1 resulted in a reduction in virulence and a delay in penetration and invasive growth in host cells. PEF1 was particularly expressed during appressorial development, and its encoding protein was co-localized with peroxisomes during appressorial development. Compared with the massive vesicle-shaped peroxisomes formed in the wild-type appressorium, the Δpef1 mutant could only form stringy linked immature peroxisomes, suggesting that PEF1 was involved in peroxisomal fission during appressorium formation. We also found that the Δpef1 mutant could not utilize fatty acids efficiently, which can improve significantly the expression level of PEF1 and induce peroxisomal fission. As expected, the Δpef1 mutant showed reduced intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during appressorium formation and induced ROS accumulation in host cells during infection. Taken together, PEF1-mediated peroxisomal fission is important for fungal infection by controlling the number of peroxisomes in the appressorium.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.|State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, The Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology of Hubei Province, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Lin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5492-516X
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Mi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Yunfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Deng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Wensheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017353:Gene Deletion; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001467:Hordeum / Q000382:microbiology; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000378:metabolism; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D012275:Oryza / Q000382:microbiology*; D020675:Peroxisomes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013481:Superoxides / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C036483:T-DNA; D013481:Superoxides; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide
keywords: Magnaporthe oryzae; appressorium; fatty acid; peroxisomal proliferation; β-oxidation