Glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase-mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

The filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is the causal agent of rice blast disease. Here we show that glycogen metabolic genes play an important role in plant infection by M. oryzae. Targeted deletion of AGL1 and GPH1, which encode amyloglucosidase and glycogen phosphorylase, respectively, prevente...

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Main Authors: Muhammad Badaruddin, Lucy J Holcombe, Richard A Wilson, Zheng-Yi Wang, Michael J Kershaw, Nicholas J Talbot
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS Pathogens
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1003604&type=printable
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author Muhammad Badaruddin
Lucy J Holcombe
Richard A Wilson
Zheng-Yi Wang
Michael J Kershaw
Nicholas J Talbot
author_facet Muhammad Badaruddin
Lucy J Holcombe
Richard A Wilson
Zheng-Yi Wang
Michael J Kershaw
Nicholas J Talbot
author_sort Muhammad Badaruddin
collection DOAJ
description The filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is the causal agent of rice blast disease. Here we show that glycogen metabolic genes play an important role in plant infection by M. oryzae. Targeted deletion of AGL1 and GPH1, which encode amyloglucosidase and glycogen phosphorylase, respectively, prevented mobilisation of glycogen stores during appressorium development and caused a significant reduction in the ability of M. oryzae to cause rice blast disease. By contrast, targeted mutation of GSN1, which encodes glycogen synthase, significantly reduced the synthesis of intracellular glycogen, but had no effect on fungal pathogenicity. We found that loss of AGL1 and GPH1 led to a reduction in expression of TPS1 and TPS3, which encode components of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase complex, that acts as a genetic switch in M. oryzae. Tps1 responds to glucose-6-phosphate levels and the balance of NADP/NADPH to regulate virulence-associated gene expression, in association with Nmr transcriptional inhibitors. We show that deletion of the NMR3 transcriptional inhibitor gene partially restores virulence to a Δagl1Δgph1 mutant, suggesting that glycogen metabolic genes are necessary for operation of the NADPH-dependent genetic switch in M. oryzae.
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publishDate 2013-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
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spelling doaj-art-690af5655f3b4d76997fa8bd110def2e2025-08-20T02:09:14ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Pathogens1553-73661553-73742013-01-01910e100360410.1371/journal.ppat.1003604Glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase-mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.Muhammad BadaruddinLucy J HolcombeRichard A WilsonZheng-Yi WangMichael J KershawNicholas J TalbotThe filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is the causal agent of rice blast disease. Here we show that glycogen metabolic genes play an important role in plant infection by M. oryzae. Targeted deletion of AGL1 and GPH1, which encode amyloglucosidase and glycogen phosphorylase, respectively, prevented mobilisation of glycogen stores during appressorium development and caused a significant reduction in the ability of M. oryzae to cause rice blast disease. By contrast, targeted mutation of GSN1, which encodes glycogen synthase, significantly reduced the synthesis of intracellular glycogen, but had no effect on fungal pathogenicity. We found that loss of AGL1 and GPH1 led to a reduction in expression of TPS1 and TPS3, which encode components of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase complex, that acts as a genetic switch in M. oryzae. Tps1 responds to glucose-6-phosphate levels and the balance of NADP/NADPH to regulate virulence-associated gene expression, in association with Nmr transcriptional inhibitors. We show that deletion of the NMR3 transcriptional inhibitor gene partially restores virulence to a Δagl1Δgph1 mutant, suggesting that glycogen metabolic genes are necessary for operation of the NADPH-dependent genetic switch in M. oryzae.https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1003604&type=printable
spellingShingle Muhammad Badaruddin
Lucy J Holcombe
Richard A Wilson
Zheng-Yi Wang
Michael J Kershaw
Nicholas J Talbot
Glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase-mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
PLoS Pathogens
title Glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase-mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_full Glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase-mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_fullStr Glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase-mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_full_unstemmed Glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase-mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_short Glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase-mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
title_sort glycogen metabolic genes are involved in trehalose 6 phosphate synthase mediated regulation of pathogenicity by the rice blast fungus magnaporthe oryzae
url https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1003604&type=printable
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