PKA activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by MoSfl1 in Magnaporthe oryzae.

In the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, the cAMP-PKA pathway regulates surface recognition, appressorium turgor generation, and invasive growth. However, deletion of CPKA failed to block appressorium formation and responses to exogenous cAMP. In this study, we generated and characterized the cp...

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Main Authors: Yang Li, Xue Zhang, Shuai Hu, Huiquan Liu, Jin-Rong Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-08-01
Series:PLoS Genetics
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1006954&type=printable
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author Yang Li
Xue Zhang
Shuai Hu
Shuai Hu
Huiquan Liu
Jin-Rong Xu
author_facet Yang Li
Xue Zhang
Shuai Hu
Shuai Hu
Huiquan Liu
Jin-Rong Xu
author_sort Yang Li
collection DOAJ
description In the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, the cAMP-PKA pathway regulates surface recognition, appressorium turgor generation, and invasive growth. However, deletion of CPKA failed to block appressorium formation and responses to exogenous cAMP. In this study, we generated and characterized the cpk2 and cpkA cpk2 mutants and spontaneous suppressors of cpkA cpk2 in M. oryzae. Our results demonstrate that CPKA and CPK2 have specific and overlapping functions, and PKA activity is essential for appressorium formation and plant infection. Unlike the single mutants, the cpkA cpk2 mutant was significantly reduced in growth and rarely produced conidia. It failed to form appressoria although the intracellular cAMP level and phosphorylation of Pmk1 MAP kinase were increased. The double mutant also was defective in plant penetration and Mps1 activation. Interestingly, it often produced fast-growing spontaneous suppressors that formed appressoria but were still non-pathogenic. Two suppressor strains of cpkA cpk2 had deletion and insertion mutations in the MoSFL1 transcription factor gene. Deletion of MoSFL1 or its C-terminal 93-aa (MoSFL1ΔCT) was confirmed to suppress the defects of cpkA cpk2 in hyphal growth but not appressorium formation or pathogenesis. We also isolated 30 spontaneous suppressors of the cpkA cpk2 mutant in Fusarium graminearum and identified mutations in 29 of them in FgSFL1. Affinity purification and co-IP assays showed that this C-terminal region of MoSfl1 was essential for its interaction with the conserved Cyc8-Tup1 transcriptional co-repressor, which was reduced by cAMP treatment. Furthermore, the S211D mutation at the conserved PKA-phosphorylation site in MoSFL1 partially suppressed the defects of cpkA cpk2. Overall, our results indicate that PKA activity is essential for appressorium formation and proper activation of Pmk1 or Mps1 in M. oryzae, and phosphorylation of MoSfl1 by PKA relieves its interaction with the Cyc8-Tup1 co-repressor and suppression of genes important for hyphal growth.
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publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
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spelling doaj-art-33e23783e1844708a5ee399d03a147bf2025-08-20T02:03:58ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042017-08-01138e100695410.1371/journal.pgen.1006954PKA activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by MoSfl1 in Magnaporthe oryzae.Yang LiXue ZhangShuai HuShuai HuHuiquan LiuJin-Rong XuIn the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, the cAMP-PKA pathway regulates surface recognition, appressorium turgor generation, and invasive growth. However, deletion of CPKA failed to block appressorium formation and responses to exogenous cAMP. In this study, we generated and characterized the cpk2 and cpkA cpk2 mutants and spontaneous suppressors of cpkA cpk2 in M. oryzae. Our results demonstrate that CPKA and CPK2 have specific and overlapping functions, and PKA activity is essential for appressorium formation and plant infection. Unlike the single mutants, the cpkA cpk2 mutant was significantly reduced in growth and rarely produced conidia. It failed to form appressoria although the intracellular cAMP level and phosphorylation of Pmk1 MAP kinase were increased. The double mutant also was defective in plant penetration and Mps1 activation. Interestingly, it often produced fast-growing spontaneous suppressors that formed appressoria but were still non-pathogenic. Two suppressor strains of cpkA cpk2 had deletion and insertion mutations in the MoSFL1 transcription factor gene. Deletion of MoSFL1 or its C-terminal 93-aa (MoSFL1ΔCT) was confirmed to suppress the defects of cpkA cpk2 in hyphal growth but not appressorium formation or pathogenesis. We also isolated 30 spontaneous suppressors of the cpkA cpk2 mutant in Fusarium graminearum and identified mutations in 29 of them in FgSFL1. Affinity purification and co-IP assays showed that this C-terminal region of MoSfl1 was essential for its interaction with the conserved Cyc8-Tup1 transcriptional co-repressor, which was reduced by cAMP treatment. Furthermore, the S211D mutation at the conserved PKA-phosphorylation site in MoSFL1 partially suppressed the defects of cpkA cpk2. Overall, our results indicate that PKA activity is essential for appressorium formation and proper activation of Pmk1 or Mps1 in M. oryzae, and phosphorylation of MoSfl1 by PKA relieves its interaction with the Cyc8-Tup1 co-repressor and suppression of genes important for hyphal growth.https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1006954&type=printable
spellingShingle Yang Li
Xue Zhang
Shuai Hu
Shuai Hu
Huiquan Liu
Jin-Rong Xu
PKA activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by MoSfl1 in Magnaporthe oryzae.
PLoS Genetics
title PKA activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by MoSfl1 in Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_full PKA activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by MoSfl1 in Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_fullStr PKA activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by MoSfl1 in Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_full_unstemmed PKA activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by MoSfl1 in Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_short PKA activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by MoSfl1 in Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_sort pka activity is essential for relieving the suppression of hyphal growth and appressorium formation by mosfl1 in magnaporthe oryzae
url https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1006954&type=printable
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