A Zinc-Finger-Family Transcription Factor, AbVf19, Is Required for the Induction of a Gene Subset Important for Virulence in Alternaria brassicicola
- Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa, HI (United States)
- USDOE Joint Genome Inst., Walnut Creek, CA (United States)
- Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
Alternaria brassicicola is a successful saprophyte and necrotrophic plant pathogen with a broad host range within the family Brassicaceae. It produces secondary metabolites that marginally affect virulence. Cell wall degrading enzymes (CDWE) have been considered important for pathogenesis but none of them individually have been identified as significant virulence factors in A. brassicicola. In this study, knockout mutants of a gene, AbVf19, were created and produced considerably smaller lesions than the wild type on inoculated host plants. The presence of tandem zinc-finger domains in the predicted amino acid sequence and nuclear localization of AbVf19- reporter protein suggested that it was a transcription factor. Gene expression comparisons using RNA-seq identified 74 genes being downregulated in the mutant during a late stage of infection. Among the 74 downregulated genes, 28 were putative CWDE genes. These were hydrolytic enzyme genes that composed a small fraction of genes within each family of cellulases, pectinases, cutinases, and proteinases. The mutants grew slower than the wild type on an axenic medium with pectin as a major carbon source. This study demonstrated the existence and the importance of a transcription factor that regulates a suite of genes that are important for decomposing and utilizing plant material during the late stage of plant infection.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1241203
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-7112E
- Journal Information:
- Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Vol. 25, Issue 4; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: April 2012; ISSN 0894-0282
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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