The Plant Pathology Journal

The Korean Society of Plant Pathology (한국식물병리학회)
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The Small GTPase CsRAC1 Is Important for Fungal Development and Pepper Anthracnose in Colletotrichum scovillei

  • Lee, Noh-Hyun (Division of Bio-Resource Sciences, BioHerb Research Institute, and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Fu, Teng (Division of Bio-Resource Sciences, BioHerb Research Institute, and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Shin, Jong-Hwan (Division of Bio-Resource Sciences, BioHerb Research Institute, and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Song, Yong-Won (Division of Bio-Resource Sciences, BioHerb Research Institute, and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Jang, Dong-Cheol (Department of Horticulture, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Kim, Kyoung Su (Division of Bio-Resource Sciences, BioHerb Research Institute, and Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University)
  • Received : 2021.09.09
  • Accepted : 2021.10.31
  • Published : 2021.12.01
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Abstract

The pepper anthracnose fungus, Colletotrichum scovillei, causes severe losses of pepper fruit production in the tropical and temperate zones. RAC1 is a highly conserved small GTP-binding protein in the Rho GT-Pase family. This protein has been demonstrated to play a role in fungal development, and pathogenicity in several plant pathogenic fungi. However, the functional roles of RAC1 are not characterized in C. scovillei causing anthracnose on pepper fruits. Here, we generated a deletion mutant (𝜟Csrac1) via homologous recombination to investigate the functional roles of CsRAC1. The 𝜟Csrac1 showed pleiotropic defects in fungal growth and developments, including vegetative growth, conidiogenesis, conidial germination and appressorium formation, compared to wild-type. Although 𝜟Csrac1 was able to develop appressoria, it failed to differentiate appressorium pegs. However, 𝜟Csrac1 still caused anthracnose disease with significantly reduced rate on wounded pepper fruits. Further analyses revealed that 𝜟Csrac1 was defective in tolerance to oxidative stress and suppression of host-defense genes. Taken together, our results suggest that CsRAC1 plays essential roles in fungal development and pathogenicity in C. scovilleipepper fruit pathosystem.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by a research grant of Kangwon National University in 2018.

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