Plant Responses of Maize to Two formae speciales of Sporisorium reilianum Support Recent Fungal Host Jump.

ABSTRACT: Host jumps are a major factor for the emergence of new fungal pathogens. In the evolution of smut fungi, a putative host jump occurred in Sporisorium reilianum that today exists in two host-adapted formae speciales, the sorghum-pathogenic S. reilianum f. sp. reilianum and maize-pathogenic S. reilianum f. sp. zeae. To understand the molecular host-specific adaptation to maize, we compared the transcriptomes of maize leaves colonized by both formae speciales. We found that both varieties induce many common defense response-associated genes, indicating that both are recognized by the plant as pathogens. S. reilianum f. sp. reilianum additionally induced genes involved in systemic acquired resistance. In contrast, only S. reilia

SUBMITTER: Dittiger LD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10648682 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature