Regulatory insight for a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat
The regulation of virulence in plant-pathogenic fungi has emerged as a key area of importance underlying host infections. Recent work has highlighted individual transcription factors (TFs) that serve important roles. A prominent example is PnPf2, a member of the Zn2Cys6 family of fungal TFs, which c...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96386 |
| _version_ | 1848766145665957888 |
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| author | John, Evan Verdonk, Callum Singh, Karam B. Oliver, R.P. Lenzo, Leon Morikawa, Shota Soyer, J.L. Muria-Gonzalez, Jordi Soo, Daniel Mousley, Carl Jacques, Silke Tan, Kar-Chun |
| author_facet | John, Evan Verdonk, Callum Singh, Karam B. Oliver, R.P. Lenzo, Leon Morikawa, Shota Soyer, J.L. Muria-Gonzalez, Jordi Soo, Daniel Mousley, Carl Jacques, Silke Tan, Kar-Chun |
| author_sort | John, Evan |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The regulation of virulence in plant-pathogenic fungi has emerged as a key area of importance underlying host infections. Recent work has highlighted individual transcription factors (TFs) that serve important roles. A prominent example is PnPf2, a member of the Zn2Cys6 family of fungal TFs, which controls the expression of effectors and other virulence-associated genes in Parastagonospora nodorum during infection of wheat. PnPf2 orthologues are similarly important for other major fungal pathogens during infection of their respective host plants, and have also been shown to control polysaccharide metabolism in model saprophytes. In each case, the direct genomic targets and associated regulatory mechanisms were unknown. Significant insight was made here by investigating PnPf2 through chromatin-immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and mutagenesis approaches in P. nodorum. Two distinct binding motifs were characterised as positive regulatory elements and direct PnPf2 targets identified. These encompass known effectors and other components associated with the P. nodorum pathogenic lifestyle, such as carbohydrate-active enzymes and nutrient assimilators. The results support a direct involvement of PnPf2 in coordinating virulence on wheat. Other prominent PnPf2 targets included TF-encoding genes. While novel functions were observed for the TFs PnPro1, PnAda1, PnEbr1 and the carbon-catabolite repressor PnCreA, our investigation upheld PnPf2 as the predominant transcriptional regulator characterised in terms of direct and specific coordination of virulence on wheat, and provides important mechanistic insights that may be conserved for homologous TFs in other fungi. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:46:30Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-96386 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:46:30Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-963862025-01-10T00:52:28Z Regulatory insight for a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat John, Evan Verdonk, Callum Singh, Karam B. Oliver, R.P. Lenzo, Leon Morikawa, Shota Soyer, J.L. Muria-Gonzalez, Jordi Soo, Daniel Mousley, Carl Jacques, Silke Tan, Kar-Chun Triticum Plant Diseases Transcription Factors Virulence Fungal Proteins Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal Ascomycota Ascomycota Triticum Fungal Proteins Transcription Factors Virulence Plant Diseases Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal The regulation of virulence in plant-pathogenic fungi has emerged as a key area of importance underlying host infections. Recent work has highlighted individual transcription factors (TFs) that serve important roles. A prominent example is PnPf2, a member of the Zn2Cys6 family of fungal TFs, which controls the expression of effectors and other virulence-associated genes in Parastagonospora nodorum during infection of wheat. PnPf2 orthologues are similarly important for other major fungal pathogens during infection of their respective host plants, and have also been shown to control polysaccharide metabolism in model saprophytes. In each case, the direct genomic targets and associated regulatory mechanisms were unknown. Significant insight was made here by investigating PnPf2 through chromatin-immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and mutagenesis approaches in P. nodorum. Two distinct binding motifs were characterised as positive regulatory elements and direct PnPf2 targets identified. These encompass known effectors and other components associated with the P. nodorum pathogenic lifestyle, such as carbohydrate-active enzymes and nutrient assimilators. The results support a direct involvement of PnPf2 in coordinating virulence on wheat. Other prominent PnPf2 targets included TF-encoding genes. While novel functions were observed for the TFs PnPro1, PnAda1, PnEbr1 and the carbon-catabolite repressor PnCreA, our investigation upheld PnPf2 as the predominant transcriptional regulator characterised in terms of direct and specific coordination of virulence on wheat, and provides important mechanistic insights that may be conserved for homologous TFs in other fungi. 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96386 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012536 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Triticum Plant Diseases Transcription Factors Virulence Fungal Proteins Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal Ascomycota Ascomycota Triticum Fungal Proteins Transcription Factors Virulence Plant Diseases Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal John, Evan Verdonk, Callum Singh, Karam B. Oliver, R.P. Lenzo, Leon Morikawa, Shota Soyer, J.L. Muria-Gonzalez, Jordi Soo, Daniel Mousley, Carl Jacques, Silke Tan, Kar-Chun Regulatory insight for a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat |
| title | Regulatory insight for a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat |
| title_full | Regulatory insight for a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat |
| title_fullStr | Regulatory insight for a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regulatory insight for a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat |
| title_short | Regulatory insight for a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat |
| title_sort | regulatory insight for a zn2cys6 transcription factor controlling effector-mediated virulence in a fungal pathogen of wheat |
| topic | Triticum Plant Diseases Transcription Factors Virulence Fungal Proteins Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal Ascomycota Ascomycota Triticum Fungal Proteins Transcription Factors Virulence Plant Diseases Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96386 |