Growth and Virulence of Plant Pathogenic Fungi, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 539

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China
Interests: Fusarium graminearum; Magnaporthe oryzae; protein kinase; signaling pathways; mycotoxin; plant-fungus interactions
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
MARA Key Laboratory of Sustainable Crop Production in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River (Co-Construction By Ministry and Province), College of Agriculture, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, China
Interests: strip rust; RNAi; effector factor; fungal taxonomy; biological control; antimicrobial peptide
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas and College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China
Interests: fungal plant pathogens; biology, infection mechanisms and control of apple fungal diseases; efficient control of apple Valsa canker disease; plant-fungus interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungi are among the most dominant causal agents of plant diseases. In addition to causing yield and quality losses, many fungal pathogens produce mycotoxins to contaminate crops before or after harvest, posing a threat to our food and feed safety. Understanding the regulating mechanisms of fungal pathogens’ vegetative growth, sexual/asexual reproduction, toxin biosynthesis, pathogenesis and host–pathogen interactions is critical for developing effective strategies to control plant diseases. In recent years, scientific and technological advances have significantly promoted progress in the research on plant fungal pathogens.

We welcome research and review manuscripts focused on plant diseases caused by fungi or fungal-like organisms. Topics of interest for this Special Issue of the Journal of Fungi include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Biology of plant fungal pathogens including vegetative growth, conidiation, and sexual development;
  2. Mycotoxin biosynthesis;
  3. Pathogenesis;
  4. Host–pathogen interactions;
  5. Effects of abiotic and biotic environmental factors.

Dr. Guanghui Wang
Prof. Dr. Dongfang Ma
Dr. Xiaofeng Liang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant pathogenic fungi
  • fungal biology
  • mycotoxin
  • pathogenesis
  • host–pathogen interactions
  • environmental factors

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 2912 KiB  
Article
Protein Phosphatases MoPtc5, MoPtc1, and MoPtc2 Contribute to the Vegetative Growth, Stress Adaptation, and Virulence of Magnaporthe oryzae
by Jules Biregeya, Frankline Jagero Otieno, Meilian Chen, Anjago Wilfred Mabeche, Abah Felix, Nsanzinshuti Aimable, Yakubu Saddeeq Abubakar, Osakina Aron, Guodong Lu, Zonghua Wang, Yonghe Hong and Wei Tang
J. Fungi 2025, 11(3), 231; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11030231 - 18 Mar 2025
Viewed by 320
Abstract
Protein phosphatases are crucial enzymes that regulate key cellular processes such as the cell cycle, gene transcription, and translation in eukaryotes. Seven PP2C protein phosphatases have been identified in Magnaporthe oryzae. However, their synergistic roles in the pathology and physiology of M. [...] Read more.
Protein phosphatases are crucial enzymes that regulate key cellular processes such as the cell cycle, gene transcription, and translation in eukaryotes. Seven PP2C protein phosphatases have been identified in Magnaporthe oryzae. However, their synergistic roles in the pathology and physiology of M. oryzae remain poorly investigated. By qRT-PCR analysis, we found that PTC1 and PTC2 are significantly upregulated in the PTC5 deletion mutant. The double deletion of the MoPTC5/MoPTC1 and MoPTC5/MoPTC2 genes significantly reduced hyphal growth, conidiophore formation, sporulation, and virulence in M. oryzae. In addition, the double-knockout mutants were increasingly sensitive to different osmotic, oxidative, and cell wall stresses. Western blot analysis revealed that MoPtc5 plays a synergistic function with MoPtc1 and MoPtc2 in the regulation of MoMps1 and MoOsm1 phosphorylation levels. Lastly, appressorium formation and turgor generation were remarkably affected in the ΔMoptc5ΔMoptc1 and ΔMoptc5ΔMoptc2 double-deletion mutants. These findings demonstrate the overlapping roles of PP2c protein phosphatase in the fungal development and pathogenesis of M. oryzae. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Virulence of Plant Pathogenic Fungi, 2nd Edition)
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