title: Fusarium graminearum pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (FgPDK1) Is Critical for Conidiation, Mycelium Growth, and Pathogenicity.
abstract: Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) is an important mitochondrial enzyme that blocks the production of acetyl-CoA by selectively inhibiting the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) through phosphorylation. PDK is an effectively therapeutic target in cancer cells, but the physiological roles of PDK in phytopathogens are largely unknown. To address these gaps, a PDK gene (FgPDK1) was isolated from Fusarium graminearum that is an economically important pathogen infecting cereals. The deletion of FgPDK1 in F. graminearum resulted in the increase in PDH activity, coinciding with several phenotypic defects, such as growth retardation, failure in perithecia and conidia production, and increase in pigment formation. The ΔFgPDK1 mutants showed enhanced sensitivity to osmotic stress and cell membrane-damaging agent. Physiological detection indicated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and plasma membrane damage (indicated by PI staining, lipid peroxidation, and electrolyte leakage) occurred in ΔFgPDK1 mutants. The deletion of FgPDK1 also prohibited the production of deoxynivalenol (DON) and pathogenicity of F. graminearum, which may resulted from the decrease in the expression of Tri6. Taken together, this study firstly identified the vital roles of FgPDK1 in the development of phytopathogen F. graminearum, which may provide a potentially novel clue for target-directed development of agricultural fungicides.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Quality and Safety, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China.|Key Lab of Food Quality and Safety of Jiangsu Province-State Key Laboratory Breeding Base, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Control Technology and Standard for Agro-product Safety and Quality, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Quality and Safety, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China.|Key Lab of Food Quality and Safety of Jiangsu Province-State Key Laboratory Breeding Base, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Control Technology and Standard for Agro-product Safety and Quality, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Quality and Safety, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China.|Key Lab of Food Quality and Safety of Jiangsu Province-State Key Laboratory Breeding Base, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Control Technology and Standard for Agro-product Safety and Quality, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005670:Fusarium / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D017353:Gene Deletion; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D018390:Gene Targeting; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D025282:Mycelium / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000081382:Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Acetyl-Transferring Kinase; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014255:Trichothecenes / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D000081382:Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Acetyl-Transferring Kinase; D014255:Trichothecenes; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; C007262:deoxynivalenol