The Zymoseptoria tritici white collar-1 gene, ZtWco-1, is required for development and virulence on wheat
Date
2022-06-14
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Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
The fungus Zymoseptoria tritici causes Septoria Tritici Blotch (STB), which is one of the most devastating diseases
of wheat in Europe. There are currently no fully durable methods of control against Z. tritici, so novel strategies
are urgently required. One of the ways in which fungi are able to respond to their surrounding environment is
through the use of photoreceptor proteins which detect light signals. Although previous evidence suggests that
Z. tritici can detect light, no photoreceptor genes have been characterised in this pathogen. This study characterises ZtWco-1, a predicted photoreceptor gene in Z. tritici. The ZtWco-1 gene is a putative homolog to the blue
light photoreceptor from Neurospora crassa, wc-1. Z. tritici mutants with deletions in ZtWco-1 have defects in
hyphal branching, melanisation and virulence on wheat. In addition, we identify the putative circadian clock
gene ZtFrq in Z. tritici. This study provides evidence for the genetic regulation of light detection in Z. tritici and it
open avenues for future research into whether this pathogen has a circadian clock.
Description
Publication history: Accepted - 9 June 2022: Published online - 14 June 2022
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Keywords
Zymoseptoria tritici, Wheat, Light, White collar
Citation
Tiley, A.M.M., Lawless, C., Pilo, P., Karki, S.J., Lu, J., Long, Z., Gibriel, H., Bailey, A.M. and Feechan, A. (2022) ‘The Zymoseptoria tritici white collar-1 gene, ZtWco-1, is required for development and virulence on wheat’, Fungal Genetics and Biology. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2022.103715.