Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Cell wall integrity (CWI) is crucial for fungal growth, pathogenesis, and adaptation to extracellular environments. Calcofluor white (CFW) is a cell wall perturbant that inhibits fungal growth, yet little is known about how phytopathogenic fungi respond to the CFW-induced stress. RESULTS: In this study, we unveiled a significant discovery that CFW triggered the translocation of the transcription factor CgCrzA from the cytoplasm to the nucleus in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. This translocation was regulated by an interacting protein, CgMkk1, a mitogen-activated protein kinase involved in the CWI pathway. Further analysis revealed that CgMkk1 facilitated nuclear translocation by phosphorylating CgCrzA at the Ser280 residue. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, we identified two downstream targets of CgCrzA, namely CgCHS5 and CgCHS6, which are critical for growth, cell wall integrity, and pathogenicity as chitin synthase genes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide a novel insight into the regulatory mechanism of CgMkk1-CgCrzA-CgChs5/6, which enables response of the cell wall inhibitor CFW and facilitates infectious growth for C. gloeosporioides.
Source: BMC Biology
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,390
Funders: Nanjing Forestry University, Chongqing Postdoctoral Science Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Jilin Agricultural University, Nanjing Agricultural University, Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, National Key Research and Development Program of China
OpenAlex ID: W4401865933