LaeA Controls Virulence and Secondary Metabolism in Apple Canker Pathogen Valsa mali.

ABSTRACT: Apple Valsa canker is a destructive disease caused by the ascomycete Valsa mali and poses a serious threat to apple production. Toxins synthesized by secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (SMBGCs) have been proven to be crucial for pathogen virulence. A previous study showed that V. mali genome contains remarkably expanded SMBGCs and some of their genes were significantly upregulated during infection. In this study, we focus on LaeA, a known regulator of secondary metabolism, for its role in SMBGC regulation, toxin production, and virulence of V. mali. Deletion of VmLaeA led to greatly reduced virulence with lesion length reduced by 48% on apple twigs. Toxicity tests proved that toxicity of secondary metabolites (SMs) produced by VmLaeA deletion

SUBMITTER: Feng Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7674932 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature