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Two mating-type genes MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-1-2 with significant functions in conidiation, stress response, sexual development, and pathogenicity of rice false smut fungus Villosiclava virens

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Abstract

Rice false smut caused by Villosiclava virens is one of the destructive diseases on panicles of rice. Sexual development of V. virens, controlled by mating-type locus, plays an important role in the prevalence of rice false smut and genetic diversity of the pathogen. However, how the mating-type genes mediate sexual development of the V. virens remains largely unknown. In this study, we characterized the two mating-type genes, MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-1-2, in V. virens. MAT1-1-1 knockout mutant showed defects in hyphal growth, conidia morphogenesis, sexual development, and increase in the tolerance to salt and osmotic stress. Targeted deletion of MAT1-1-2 not only impaired the sclerotia formation and pathogenicity of V. virens, but also reduced the production of conidia. The MAT1-1-2 mutant showed increases in tolerance to salt and hydrogen peroxide stress, but decreases in tolerance to osmotic stress. Yeast two-hybrid assay showed that MAT1-1-1 interacted with MAT1-1-2, indicating that those proteins might form a complex to regulate sexual development. In addition, MAT1-1-1 localized in the nucleus, and MAT1-1-2 localized in the cytoplasm. Collectively, our results demonstrate that MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-1-2 play important roles in the conidiation, stress response, sexual development, and pathogenicity of V. virens, thus providing new insights into the function of mating-type gene.

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Acknowledgements

We thank JinRong Xu (Purdue University, USA) for providing the CRISPR-Cas9 system plasmid. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31571961) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018M632257).

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  1. Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China

    Mingli Yong, Junjie Yu, Xiayan Pan, Mina Yu, Huijuan Cao, Tianqiao Song, Zhongqiang Qi, Yan Du, Rongsheng Zhang, Xiaole Yin & Yongfeng Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China

    Wende Liu

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  1. Mingli Yong
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Yong, M., Yu, J., Pan, X. et al. Two mating-type genes MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-1-2 with significant functions in conidiation, stress response, sexual development, and pathogenicity of rice false smut fungus Villosiclava virens. Curr Genet 66, 989–1002 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-020-01085-9

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