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Lv L, Yang C, Zhang X, Chen T, Luo M, Yu G, Chen Q. Autophagy-related protein PlATG2 regulates the vegetative growth, sporangial cleavage, autophagosome formation, and pathogenicity of peronophythora litchii. Virulence 2024; 15:2322183. [PMID: 38438325 PMCID: PMC10913709 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2024.2322183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Autophagy is an intracellular degradation process that is important for the development and pathogenicity of phytopathogenic fungi and for the defence response of plants. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying autophagy in the pathogenicity of the plant pathogenic oomycete Peronophythora litchii, the causal agent of litchi downy blight, have not been well characterized. In this study, the autophagy-related protein ATG2 homolog, PlATG2, was identified and characterized using a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene replacement strategy in P. litchii. A monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining assay indicated that deletion of PlATG2 abolished autophagosome formation. Infection assays demonstrated that ΔPlatg2 mutants showed significantly impaired pathogenicity in litchi leaves and fruits. Further studies have revealed that PlATG2 participates in radial growth and asexual/sexual development of P. litchii. Moreover, zoospore release and cytoplasmic cleavage of sporangia were considerably lower in the ΔPlatg2 mutants than in the wild-type strain by FM4-64 staining. Taken together, our results revealed that PlATG2 plays a pivotal role in vegetative growth, sporangia and oospore production, zoospore release, sporangial cleavage, and plant infection of P. litchii. This study advances our understanding of the pathogenicity mechanisms of the phytopathogenic oomycete P. litchii and is conducive to the development of effective control strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Lv
- Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, College of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Sanya, China
- Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Chengdong Yang
- Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, College of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Sanya, China
- Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Xue Zhang
- Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, College of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Sanya, China
- Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Taixu Chen
- Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, College of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Sanya, China
- Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Manfei Luo
- Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, College of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Sanya, China
- Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Ge Yu
- Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, College of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Sanya, China
- Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Qinghe Chen
- Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, College of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Sanya, China
- Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
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