The bZip Transcription Factor VdMRTF1 is a Negative Regulator of Melanin Biosynthesis and Virulence in Verticillium dahliae.

ABSTRACT: The ascomycete fungus Verticillium dahliae infects over 400 plant species and causes serious losses of economically important crops, such as cotton and tomato, and also of woody plants, such as smoke tree, maple, and olive. Melanized long-term survival structures known as microsclerotia play crucial roles in the disease cycle of V. dahliae, enabling this soilborne fungus to survive for years in the soil in the absence of a host. Previously, we identified VdMRTF1 (microsclerotia-related transcription factor) encoding a bZip transcription factor which is downregulated during microsclerotial development in V. dahliae. In the present study, we showed that VdMRTF1 negatively controls melanin production and virulence by genetic, biological, and transcriptomic analyses

SUBMITTER: Lai M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9045294 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature