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Genomics of Fungal Plant Pathogens, 4th Edition
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Genomics of Fungal Plant Pathogens, 4th Edition

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 3975

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zonghua Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Fujian Key Laboratory on Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Marine Biodiversity, Fuzhou Institute of Oceanography, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350108, China
2. Fujian Universities Key Laboratory for Plant Microbe Interaction, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Interests: plant-fungal interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yizhen Deng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, Integrative Microbiology Research Centre, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Interests: plant fungal pathogen; signaling pathway; programmed cell death; fungal pathogenicity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungi cause most of the severe plant diseases that endanger food safety worldwide. Resistance to fungal pathogens is a major target of breeders; however, the unexpected mutation of avirulence genes has caused a boom and burst cycle in resistance and resistance breakdown. Fungicide-based chemical control is still the most important method to control plant fungal diseases, but most fungicides induce fungi to develop fungicide resistance. Many scientists are working on these aspects to develop ecological control strategies for plant fungal diseases. Recent advances in sequencing technologies have led to remarkable progress in understanding plant–fungal interactions based on the dissection of fungal genomes. Many important plant pathogenic fungi have successfully been studied using the second and third-generation sequencing approaches. Increasingly, functional genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics are being applied to study plant fungal pathogens. The development of advanced genomic tools and infrastructure is also making great progress. These increasing amounts of data will provide useful information to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in host–pathogen interactions, in order to better understand fungal genome features, such as repetitive sequences, telomeres, conserved syntenic blocks, and the expansion of pathogenicity-related genes. The findings of these studies can be exploited to optimize beneficial interactions and to develop new plant-protection strategies.

This Special Issue is aimed at compiling research, reviews, and opinion articles covering new scientific discoveries in plant–fungal genomics. Articles covering new insights in genomic sequencing, functional genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, molecular biology, ecology dissection, and the molecular mechanisms involved in plant–fungal interactions at the genome level are welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Zonghua Wang
Prof. Dr. Yizhen Deng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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 pathogen
  • genomic sequencing
  • functional genomics
  • molecular biology

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 2046 KB  
Article
Pathogenic and Genetic Diversity of Sclerotium rolfsii, the Causal Agent of Southern Blight of Common Bean in Uganda
by Samuel Erima, Moses Nyine, Mildred Ochwo Ssemakula, Geoffrey Tusiime, Eduard Akhunov, Alina Akhunova, Ural Yunusbaev, Emmanuel Amponsah Adjei, Settumba B. Mukasa, Michael Hilary Otim, Thomas Lapaka Odong, Allan Nkuboye, Agnes Candiru and Pamela Paparu
J. Fungi 2026, 12(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof12010018 - 26 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1289
Abstract
Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. is a soil-borne fungus that causes southern blight on many crops in the tropical and subtropical regions. In 2018, southern blight was reported as the most prevalent bean root rot in Uganda. Earlier studies ascertained the morphological and pathogenic diversity [...] Read more.
Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. is a soil-borne fungus that causes southern blight on many crops in the tropical and subtropical regions. In 2018, southern blight was reported as the most prevalent bean root rot in Uganda. Earlier studies ascertained the morphological and pathogenic diversity of S. rolfsii, but a limited understanding of its genetic diversity exists. Knowledge of S. rolfsii genetic diversity is a critical resource for pathogen surveillance and developing common bean varieties with durable resistance. A total of 188 S. rolfsii strains from infected common bean plants were collected from seven agro-ecological zones of Uganda in 2013, 2020 and 2021, and characterized morphologically and pathogenically. The genetic diversity of the strains was assessed using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained from whole-genome sequencing. The growth rate of the strains ranged between 1.1 and 3.6 cm per day, while the number of sclerotia produced ranged from 0 to 543 per strain. The strains had fluffy, fibrous, and compact colony texture. The strains were pathogenic on common bean and caused disease severity indices ranging from 10.1% to 93.3%. Average polymorphic information content across all chromosomes was 0.27. Population structure analysis identified five genetically distinct clusters. The results of analysis of molecular variance revealed that 54% of the variation was between clusters while 46% of variation was within clusters. Pairwise comparison of Wright’s fixation indices between genetic clusters ranged from 0.31 to 0.78. The findings of this study revealed moderate genetic diversity among S. rolfsii strains, which should be taken into consideration when selecting strains for germplasm screening. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genomics of Fungal Plant Pathogens, 4th Edition)
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15 pages, 2793 KB  
Article
The Guanine Exchange Factor SsEFA6 Participates in Appressorium Formation and Virulence in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
by Kunmei Wang, Ting Wang, Qi Xia, Na Xie, Jiancheng Cao and Shitou Xia
J. Fungi 2025, 11(11), 821; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11110821 - 20 Nov 2025
Viewed by 784
Abstract
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a soil-borne phytopathogenic fungus with a broad host range, often leads to severe disease and significant economic losses in agricultural production. The guanine exchange factor EFA6 of ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) has been extensively studied in animals, but its function in [...] Read more.
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a soil-borne phytopathogenic fungus with a broad host range, often leads to severe disease and significant economic losses in agricultural production. The guanine exchange factor EFA6 of ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) has been extensively studied in animals, but its function in fungi is seldom reported. Here, reverse genetics methods were employed to explore the effects of SsEFA6 in the process of pathogenicity of S. sclerotiorum. Knockout of SsEFA6 hindered appressoria formation and sclerotia production. However, it did not affect the secretion of oxalic acid, the sensitivity to cell wall inhibitors, or hyperosmotic stress. Nevertheless, SsEFA6 deletion did result in a significant decrease in mutant virulence, indicative of its indispensability in virulence. Therefore, SsEFA6 plays an essential role in appressoria formation, sclerotia production, and fungal virulence in S. sclerotiorum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genomics of Fungal Plant Pathogens, 4th Edition)
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16 pages, 2971 KB  
Article
Type 2C Protein Phosphatase MoPtc6 Plays Critical Roles in the Development and Virulence of Magnaporthe oryzae
by Frankline Otieno Jagero, Abah Felix, Yakubu Saddeeq Abubakar, Meilian Chen, Wilfred M. Anjago, Hatungimana Mediatrice, Nkurikiyimfura Oswald, Osakina Aron, Wei Tang, Zonghua Wang and Jules Biregeya
J. Fungi 2025, 11(5), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11050335 - 24 Apr 2025
Viewed by 1220
Abstract
Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype is the worst disease that leads to serious food insecurity globally. Understanding rice blast disease pathogenesis is therefore essential for the development of a blast disease mitigation strategy. Reverse phosphorylation mediated by phosphatases performs a vital [...] Read more.
Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype is the worst disease that leads to serious food insecurity globally. Understanding rice blast disease pathogenesis is therefore essential for the development of a blast disease mitigation strategy. Reverse phosphorylation mediated by phosphatases performs a vital function in the activation of diverse biological mechanisms within eukaryotic. However, little has been reported on the roles of PP2Cs in the virulence of blast fungus. In this current work, we deployed functional genomics and biochemical approaches to characterize type 2C protein phosphatase MoPtc6 in blast fungus. Deletion of MoPTC6 led to a drastic reduction in conidiophore development, conidia production, hyphal growth, and stress tolerance. Western blotting assay demonstrated that the phosphorylation level of MoOsm1 was decreased while MoMps1 was increased in the MoPtc6 deletion mutant, and comparative transcriptome assay revealed a higher number of expressed genes between mutant and wild type. Localization assay confirmed that MoPtc6 is sub-localized in the cytoplasm of mycelia, spores, and in the appressoria of M. oryzae. Furthermore, disruption of MoPTC6 impaired appressoria turgor pressure and glycogen utilization; more findings revealed attenuation of hyphal penetration and virulence upon deletion of MoPTC6. Generally, present findings suggested the role of MoPtc6 in the growth and virulence of M. oryzae. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genomics of Fungal Plant Pathogens, 4th Edition)
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