Rgs1 is a regulator of effector gene expression during plant infection by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2301358120
• Publication Date: 2023-03-13T19:11:16Z
• Authors: Bozeng Tang; Xia Yan; Lauren S. Ryder; Mark Jave A. Baut...; Neftaly Cruz-Mireles; Darren M. Soanes; Camilla Molinari; Andrew J. Foster; Nicholas J. Talbot
• Keywords: Magnaporthe; Appressorium

To cause rice blast disease, the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae secretes a battery of effector proteins into host plant tissue to facilitate infection. Effector-encoding genes are expressed only during infection and show very low expression other developmental stages. How gene is regulated in such precise manner invasive growth by M. not known. Here, we report forward-genetic screen identify regulators expression, based on selection mutants that constitutive expression. Using this simple screen, Rgs1, regulator G-protein signaling (RGS) protein necessary for appressorium development, as novel transcriptional which acts prior We an N-terminal domain possessing transactivation activity, required regulation RGS-independent manner. Rgs1 controls at least 60 temporally coregulated genes, preventing their transcription prepenetration stage development A morphogenesis therefore also orchestration pathogen