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Cited by 25Fungal and yeast genetics researchPlant Pathogens and Fungal DiseasesFungal Infections and Studies

Melanin Promotes Spore Production in the Rice Blast Fungus Magnaporthe oryzae

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Huang, Pengyun, Cao, Huijuan, Li, Yan, Zhu, Siyi, Wang, Jing, Wang, Qing, Liu, Xiaohong, Lin, Fu-Cheng +1 more·2022·Frontiers in Microbiology
DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2022.843838PMC PMC8920546
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Abstract

The rice blast pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae, spreads through spores and invades rice through appressoria. Melanin is necessary for an appressorium to penetrate plant cells, but there are many unknown aspects of its role in fungal conidiation. In this study, we confirmed that melanin promotes spore production in M. oryzae, and that this effect is related to the background melanin content of wild-type strains. In the wild-type 70-15 strain with low melanin content of aerial hyphae, increased melanin synthesis promoted sporulation. In contrast, increased melanin synthesis in the wild-type Guy11 strain, which has higher melanin content, did not promote sporulation. The transcription factor Cnf1 (conidial production negative regulatory factor 1), which negatively regulates melanin synthesis, has opposite effects in conidiophore differentiation of Guy11 and 70-15. Deletion of CNF1 did not abolish the defects of Δ cos1 and Δ hox2 (where COS1/conidiophore stalk-less 1 or HOX2/homeodomain protein 2 was deleted) in conidiation, while increased the conidiation of Δ gcc1 and Δ gcf3 (where GCC1/growth, conidiation and cell wall regulatory factor 1, or GCF3/growth and conidiation regulatory factor 3 was deleted). Pig1 (pigment of Magnaporthe 1) regulates the melanin synthesis of hyphae but not of conidiophores, spores, or appressoria. Deletion of the same gene in different wild-type strains can lead to different phenotypes, partly because of differences in melanin content between fungal strains. Overall, this study reveals the functional diversity and complexity of melanin in different M. oryzae strains.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Huang, P., Cao, H., Li, Y., Zhu, S., Wang, J., Wang, Q., Liu, X., Lin, F.-C., & Lu, J.
Affiliations
  • Zhejiang University (CN)
  • Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
  • ZheJiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
Corresponding author
Lu, Jianping
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Microbiology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2022-02-24
Volume
13
Pages
843838-843838
ISSN
1664-302X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fmicb.2022.843838
PMC
PMC8920546
OpenAlex
W4213417794
Cited by
25
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3
FWCI
1.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Microbiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Natural Science Foundation of China (31871908, 31671975)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Fungal Infections and Studies
Keywords
melanin, Magnaporthe oryzae, sporulation, conidiation, melanogenesis, cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1, appressoria

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