The role of vegetative cell fusions in the development and asexual reproduction of the wheat fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The ability of fungal cells to undergo cell-to-cell communication and anastomosis, the process of vegetative hyphal fusion, allows them to maximize their overall fitness. Previous studies in a number of fungal species have identified the requirement of several signaling pathways for anastomosis, including the so far best characterized soft (So) gene, and the MAPK pathway components MAK-1 and MAK-2 of Neurospora crassa. Despite the observations of hyphal fusions' involvement in pathogenicity and host adhesion, the connection between cell fusion and fungal lifestyles is still unclear. Here, we address the role of anastomosis in fungal development and asexual reproduction in Zymoseptoria tritici, the most important fungal pathogen of wheat in Europe.

Results

We show

SUBMITTER: Francisco CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7477884 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature