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Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus

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A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungi in Agriculture and Biotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 October 2023) | Viewed by 15233

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jun Yang

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Guest Editor

Department of Plant Biosecurity, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: rice blast fungus; rice blast; fungal pathogenesis; green fungicide development; broad-spectrum resistance gene; strategy on the deployment of resistance genes

Prof. Dr. Xiaolin Chen

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Plant Science & Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
Interests: fungal pathogenesis; fungal-host interaction; Magnaporthe oryzae; post-translational regulation; epigenitical regulation; molecular cell biology; antifungal agents

Prof. Dr. Haifeng Zhang

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Guest Editor

College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Interests: fungal biology; fungal-host interaction; rice blast fungus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Min He

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Interests: fungal pathogenesis; virulence determinant; plant immunity; rice blast disease; disease control measure

Prof. Dr. Junjie Xing

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, Changsha 410125, China
Interests: rice blast fungus; genetic analysis; fungal pathogenicity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rice blast, one of the most devastating diseases of rice worldwide, causes 10% to 30% loss of the yield of this staple crop and is an ongoing threat to global food security. Rice blast fungus (anamorph: Pyricularia oryzae, teleomorph: Magnaporthe oryzae) is a heterothallic ascomycete that forms a specialized infection structure called appressorium for penetrating rice cells. Rice blast fungus can also infect and cause severe diseases in several other crops, including wheat, barley, and millet. For over three decades, rice blast fungus has served as a model plant pathogen, and has been widely investigated regarding its pathogenic mechanism, especially fungal pathogenicity and fungus–plant interaction. Advances in the fungal pathogenic mechanism have extensively promoted the development of new strategies for preventing and controlling rice blast.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to encourage scientists in the rice blast community to publish their original and high-quality research articles as well as reviews for addressing recent advances on the pathogenic mechanism and control of rice blast fungus. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, fungal pathogenesis, fungus–plant interaction, fungal population biology, fungal molecular epidemiology, fungal avirulence gene variation, strategies for the deployment of resistance genes, green fungicide development, fungicide-resistance mechanisms, and biological control.

Prof. Dr. Jun Yang
Prof. Dr. Xiaolin Chen
Prof. Dr. Haifeng Zhang
Prof. Dr. Min He
Prof. Dr. Junjie Xing
Guest Editors

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Keywords

rice blast fungus
pathogenesis
fungus–plant interaction
population biology
molecular epidemiology
avirulence gene variation
fungicide development
biological control

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1543 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Genetic Variation of Magnaporthe oryzae Population in Hunan Province

by Zhirong Peng, Yuefeng Fu, Fan Wang, Qiqi Liu, Yi Li, Zhengbing Zhang, Li Yin, Xiao-Lin Chen, Jingbo Xu, Huafeng Deng and Junjie Xing

J. Fungi 2023, 9(7), 776; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9070776 - 23 Jul 2023

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Abstract

Studies on the population structure and variation of Magnaporthe oryzae in fields are of great significance for the control of rice blast disease. In this study, a total of 462 isolates isolated from different areas of Hunan Province in 2016 and 2018 were analyzed for their population structure and variation tendency. The results showed that from 2016 to 2018, the concentration of fungal races of M. oryzae increased and the diversity decreased; furthermore, 218 isolates in 2016 belonged to ZA, ZB, ZC, ZE, ZF and ZG, with a total of 6 groups and 29 races, in which the dominant-population ZB group accounted for 66.2%; meanwhile, in 2018, 244 isolates were classified into 4 groups and 21 races, including ZA, ZB, ZC and ZG, in which the dominant-population ZB group accounted for 72.54%. In 2018, isolates of ZD, ZE and ZF populations were absent, and the number of total races and isolates of the ZA and ZC groups decreased. Fungal pathogenicity was identified, with 24 monogenic lines (MLs) carrying 24 major R genes. The resistance frequency of R genes to fungal isolates in 2018 decreased significantly, in which except Pikm was 64.5%, the other monogenic lines were less than 50%. Rep-PCR analysis for isolates of Guidong in Hunan also showed that fungal diversity decreased gradually. The influence of R genes on fungal variation was analyzed. The pathogenicity of isolates purified from Xiangwanxian 11 planted with monogenic lines was significantly more enhanced than those without monogenic lines. All the results indicated that in recent years, the fungal abundance in Hunan has decreased while fungal pathogenicity has increased significantly. This study will greatly benefit rice-resistance breeding and the control of rice blast disease in Hunan Province. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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18 pages, 2782 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification and Characterization of Novel Candidate Effector Proteins from Magnaporthe oryzae

by Di Liu, Zhiqin Lun, Ning Liu, Guixin Yuan, Xingbin Wang, Shanshan Li, You-Liang Peng and Xunli Lu

J. Fungi 2023, 9(5), 574; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9050574 - 15 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1626

Abstract

The fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae secretes a large number of effector proteins to facilitate infection, most of which are not functionally characterized. We selected potential candidate effector genes from the genome of M. oryzae, field isolate P131, and cloned 69 putative effector genes for functional screening. Utilizing a rice protoplast transient expression system, we identified that four candidate effector genes, GAS1, BAS2, MoCEP1 and MoCEP2 induced cell death in rice. In particular, MoCEP2 also induced cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves through Agrobacteria-mediated transient gene expression. We further identified that six candidate effector genes, MoCEP3 to MoCEP8, suppress flg22-induced ROS burst in N. benthamiana leaves upon transient expression. These effector genes were highly expressed at a different stage after M. oryzae infection. We successfully knocked out five genes in M. oryzae, MoCEP1, MoCEP2, MoCEP3, MoCEP5 and MoCEP7. The virulence tests suggested that the deletion mutants of MoCEP2, MoCEP3 and MoCEP5 showed reduced virulence on rice and barley plants. Therefore, those genes play an important role in pathogenicity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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16 pages, 4335 KiB

Open AccessArticle

RNAPII Degradation Factor Def1 Is Required for Development, Stress Response, and Full Virulence of Magnaporthe oryzae

by Xinrong Zhang, Dong Li, Jun Zhu, Jing Zheng, Hongye Li, Qixuan He, Jun Peng, Shen Chen, Xiao-Lin Chen and Weixiang Wang

J. Fungi 2023, 9(4), 467; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9040467 - 13 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1474

Abstract

The RNA polymerase II degradation factor Degradation Factor 1 (Def1) is important for DNA damage repair and plays various roles in eukaryotes; however, the biological role in plant pathogenic fungi is still unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of Def1 during the development and infection of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. The deletion mutant of Def1 displayed slower mycelial growth, less conidial production, and abnormal conidial morphology. The appressoria of Δdef1 was impaired in the penetration into host cells, mainly due to blocking in the utilization of conidial storages, such as glycogen and lipid droplets. The invasive growth of the Δdef1 mutant was also retarded and accompanied with the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside the host cells. Furthermore, compared with the wild type, Δdef1 was more sensitive to multiple stresses, such as oxidative stress, high osmotic pressure, and alkaline/acidic pH. Interestingly, we found that Def1 was modified by O-GlcNAcylation at Ser232, which was required for the stability of Def1 and its function in pathogenicity. Taken together, the O-GlcNAc modified Def1 is required for hyphae growth, conidiation, pathogenicity, and stress response in M. oryzae. This study reveals a novel regulatory mechanism of O-GlcNAc-mediated Def1 in plant pathogenic fungi. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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16 pages, 3547 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Contribution of the Tyrosinase (MoTyr) to Melanin Synthesis, Conidiogenesis, Appressorium Development, and Pathogenicity in Magnaporthe oryzae

by Xiaoning Fan, Penghui Zhang, Wajjiha Batool, Chang Liu, Yan Hu, Yi Wei, Zhengquan He and Shi-Hong Zhang

J. Fungi 2023, 9(3), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9030311 - 28 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1806

Abstract

Dihydroxynapthalene-(DHN) and L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) are two types of dominant melanin in fungi. Fungal melanins with versatile functions are frequently associated with pathogenicity and stress tolerance. In rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, DHN melanin is essential to maintain the integrity of the infectious structure, appressoria; but the role of the tyrosinase-derived L-DOPA melanin is still unknown. Here, we have genetically and biologically characterized a tyrosinase gene (MoTyr) in M. oryzae. MoTyr encodes a protein of 719 amino acids that contains the typical CuA and CuB domains of tyrosinase. The deletion mutant of MoTyr (ΔMoTyr) was obtained by using a homologous recombination approach. Phenotypic analysis showed that conidiophore stalks and conidia formation was significantly reduced in ΔMoTyr. Under different concentrations of glycerol and PEG, more appressoria collapsed in the mutant strains than in the wild type, suggesting MoTyr is associated with the integrity of the appressorium wall. Melanin measurement confirmed that MoTyr loss resulted in a significant decrease in melanin synthesis. Accordingly, the loss of MoTyr stunted the conidia germination under stress conditions. Importantly, the MoTyr deletion affected both infection and pathogenesis stages. These results suggest that MoTyr, like DHN pigment synthase, plays a key role in conidiophore stalks formation, appressorium integrity, and pathogenesis of M. oryzae, revealing a potential drug target for blast disease control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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18 pages, 6566 KiB

Open AccessArticle

MoNap1, a Nucleosome Assemble Protein 1, Regulates Growth, Development, and Pathogenicity in Magnaporthe oryzae

by Shulin Zhang, Yu Wang, Xinyue Cui, Jinmei Hu, Xiaoru Kang, Yuyan Liu and Yuemin Pan

J. Fungi 2023, 9(1), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9010050 - 28 Dec 2022

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Abstract

Nap1 is an evolutionarily conserved protein from yeast to human and is involved in diverse physiological processes, such as nucleosome assembly, histone shuttling between the nucleus and cytoplasm, transcriptional regulation, and the cell cycle regulation. In this paper, we identified nucleosome assemble protein MoNap1 in Magnaporthe oryzae and investigated its function in pathogenicity. Deletion of MoNAP1 resulted in reduced growth and conidiation, decreased appressorium formation rate, and impaired virulence. MoNap1 affects appressorium turgor and utilization of glycogen and lipid droplets. In addition, MoNap1 is involved in the regulation of cell wall, oxidation, and hyperosmotic stress. The subcellular localization experiments showed that MoNap1 is located in the cytoplasm. MoNap1 interacts with MoNbp2, MoClb3, and MoClb1 in M. oryzae. Moreover, deletion of MoNBP2 and MoCLB3 has no effects on vegetative growth, conidiation, and pathogenicity. Transcriptome analysis reveals that MoNAP1 is involved in regulating pathogenicity, the melanin biosynthetic process. Taken together, our results showed that MoNap1 plays a crucial role in growth, conidiation, and pathogenicity of M. oryzae. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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14 pages, 4194 KiB

Open AccessArticle

OsCERK1 Contributes to Cupric Oxide Nanoparticles Induced Phytotoxicity and Basal Resistance against Blast by Regulating the Anti-Oxidant System in Rice

by Ya Chen, Zhiquan Liu, Shuai Meng, Zhenan Shen, Huanbin Shi, Jiehua Qiu, Fucheng Lin, Shu Zhang and Yanjun Kou

J. Fungi 2023, 9(1), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9010036 - 26 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1394

Abstract

CuO NPs (cupric oxide nanoparticles) are widely used in various fields due to their high electrical conductivity, electronic correlation effect, and special physical property. Notably, CuO NPs have good application prospects in agricultural production because of its antifungal activity to prevent crop diseases. However, the increasing release of CuO NPs into the environment has resulted in a serious threat to the ecosystem, including plants. Previous studies have reported the toxicity of CuO NPs on rice, but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms or specific genes involved in the response to CuO NPs. In this study, we found that the rice well-known receptor Chitin Elicitor Receptor Kinase 1 (OsCERK1), which is essential for basal resistance against pathogens, is involved in CuO NPs stress in rice. Knockout of OsCERK1 gene resulted in enhanced tolerance to CuO NPs stress. Furthermore, it was revealed that OsCERK1 reduces the tolerance to CuO NPs stress by regulating the anti-oxidant system and increasing the accumulation of H₂O₂ in rice. In addition, CuO NPs treatment significantly enhances the basal resistance against M. oryzae which is mediated by OsCERK1. In conclusion, this study demonstrated a dual role of OsCERK1 in response to CuO NPs stress and M. oryzae infection by modulating ROS accumulation, which expands our understanding about the crosstalk between abiotic and biotic stresses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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19 pages, 3219 KiB

Open AccessArticle

MoSnf5 Regulates Fungal Virulence, Growth, and Conidiation in Magnaporthe oryzae

by Xiao-Wen Xu, Rui Zhao, Xiao-Zhou Xu, Liu Tang, Wei Shi, Deng Chen, Jun-Bo Peng, Vijai Bhadauria, Wen-Sheng Zhao, Jun Yang and You-Liang Peng

J. Fungi 2023, 9(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9010018 - 22 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2083

Abstract

Snf5 (sucrose nonfermenting) is a core component of the SWI/SNF complexes and regulates diverse cellular processes in model eukaryotes. In plant pathogenic fungi, its biological function and underlying mechanisms remain unexplored. In this study, we investigated the biological roles of MoSnf5 in plant infection and fungal development in the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. The gene deletion mutants of MoSNF5 exhibited slower vegetative hyphal growth, severe defects in conidiogenesis, and impaired virulence and galactose utilization capacities. Domain dissection assays showed that the Snf5 domain and the N- and C-termini of MoSnf5 were all required for its full functions. Co-immunoprecipitation and yeast two-hybrid assays showed that MoSnf5 physically interacts with four proteins, including a transcription initiation factor MoTaf14. Interestingly, the ∆MoTaf14 mutants showed similar phenotypes as the ∆Mosnf5 mutants on fungal virulence and development. Moreover, assays on GFP-MoAtg8 expression and localization showed that both the ∆Mosnf5 and ∆MoTaf14 mutants were defective in autophagy. Taken together, MoSnf5 regulates fungal virulence, growth, and conidiation, possibly through regulating galactose utilization and autophagy in M. oryzae. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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16 pages, 4711 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Type 2C Protein Phosphatases MoPtc5 and MoPtc7 Are Crucial for Multiple Stress Tolerance, Conidiogenesis and Pathogenesis of Magnaporthe oryzae

by Jules Biregeya, Wilfred M. Anjago, Shu Pan, Ruina Zhang, Zifeng Yang, Meilian Chen, Abah Felix, Huxiao Xu, Yaqi Lin, Oswald Nkurikiyimfura, Yakubu Saddeeq Abubakar, Zonghua Wang and Wei Tang

J. Fungi 2023, 9(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9010001 - 20 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1820

Abstract

Protein kinases and phosphatases catalyze the phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of their protein substrates, respectively, and these are important mechanisms in cellular signal transduction. The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae possesses 6 protein phosphatases of type 2C class, including MoPtc1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8. However, only very little is known about the roles of these phosphatases in filamentous fungi. Here in, we deployed genetics and molecular biology techniques to identify, characterize and establish the roles of MoPtc5 and MoPtc7 in M. oryzae development and pathogenicity. We found that during pathogen-host interaction, MoPTC7 is differentially expressed. Double deletion of MoPTC7 and MoPTC5 suppressed the fungal vegetative growth, altered its cell wall integrity and reduced its virulence. The two genes were found indispensable for stress tolerance in the phytopathogen. We also demonstrated that disruption of any of the two genes highly affected appressorium turgor generation and Mps1 and Osm1 phosphorylation levels. Lastly, we demonstrated that both MoPtc5 and MoPtc7 are localized to mitochondria of different cellular compartments in the blast fungus. Taken together, our study revealed synergistic coordination of M. oryzae development and pathogenesis by the type 2C protein phosphatases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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12 pages, 2791 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hormetic Effects of Carbendazim on Mycelial Growth and Aggressiveness of Magnaporthe oryzae

by Jiehui Song, Chenxi Han, Sijie Zhang, Yan Wang, You Liang, Qigen Dai, Zhongyang Huo and Ke Xu

J. Fungi 2022, 8(10), 1008; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof8101008 - 26 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1287

Abstract

Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of rice worldwide. Stimulatory effects of low doses of fungicides on pathogens are closely relevant to disease management. In the present study, in potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with carbendazim at a dose range from 0.003 to 0.3 μg/mL, stimulatory effects on the mycelial growth of three isolates sensitive to carbendazim were tested. Carbendazim at concentrations from 0.003 to 0.1 µg/mL showed stimulatory effects on mycelial growth of isolates Guy11 and H08-1a, while carbendazim at concentrations from 0.003 to 0.03 µg/mL stimulated the growth of isolate P131. The maximum stimulation magnitudes were 11.84% for the three isolates tested. Mycelial colonies grown on PDA amended with different concentrations of carbendazim were incubated at 28 °C in darkness for 7 days as the pretreatment. Pretreatment mycelia were inoculated on fresh fungicide-free PDA and subsequent mycelia growth stimulations were still observed, and the maximum stimulation magnitudes were 9.15% for the three isolates tested. Pretreatment mycelia did not significantly change the tolerance to H₂O₂ and NaCl, except that the tolerance to H₂O₂ was increased significantly (p < 0.05) when the carbendazim was at 0.3 µg/mL. After five generations of mycelial transference on fungicide-free PDA, the transgenerational hormesis of mycelial were exhibited when transferred onto PDA supplemented with carbendazim at 0.3 µg/mL, and the maximum percent stimulation was 51.28%. The time course of infection indicated that the visible initial necrotic symptoms could be detected at 2 DPI on leaves treated with carbendazim at 0.03 µg/mL, whereas no necrotic symptom could be discerned for the control. Statistical results of lesion area and lesion type at 7 DPI showed that there was a significant stimulation (p < 0.05) on aggressiveness of M. oryzae isolate Guy11 on detached rice leaves at 0.03 µg/mL carbendazim. These results will advance our understanding of hormetic effects of fungicides and provide valuable information for judicious application of fungicides. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Mechanism and Control of Rice Blast Fungus)

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