Two independent S-phase checkpoints regulate appressorium-mediated plant infection by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

ABSTRACT: To cause rice blast disease, the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae develops a specialized infection structure called an appressorium. This dome-shaped, melanin-pigmented cell generates enormous turgor and applies physical force to rupture the rice leaf cuticle using a rigid penetration peg. Appressorium-mediated infection requires septin-dependent reorientation of the F-actin cytoskeleton at the base of the infection cell, which organizes polarity determinants necessary for plant cell invasion. Here, we show that plant infection by M. oryzae requires two independent S-phase cell-cycle checkpoints. Initial formation of appressoria on the rice leaf surface requires an S-phase checkpoint that acts through the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway, involving the Cds1 kinase. By contrast, appresso

SUBMITTER: Oses-Ruiz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5240714 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature