Vegetative hyphal fusion is not essential for plant infection by Fusarium oxysporum.

ABSTRACT: Vegetative hyphal fusion (VHF) is a ubiquitous phenomenon in filamentous fungi whose biological role is poorly understood. In Neurospora crassa, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) Mak-2 and the WW domain protein So are required for efficient VHF. A MAPK orthologous to Mak-2, Fmk1, was previously shown to be essential for root penetration and pathogenicity of the vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum. Here we took a genetic approach to test two hypotheses, that (i) VHF and plant infection have signaling mechanisms in common and (ii) VHF is required for efficient plant infection. F. oxysporum mutants lacking either Fmk1 or Fso1, an orthologue of N. crassa So, were impaired in the fusion of vegetative hyphae and microconidial germ tubes. Deltafmk1 Deltafso1 double mutants exhibited

SUBMITTER: Prados Rosales RC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2224152 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature