An actin mechanostat ensures hyphal tip sharpness in Phytophthora infestans to achieve host penetration.

ABSTRACT: Filamentous plant pathogens apply mechanical forces to pierce their hosts surface and penetrate its tissues. Devastating Phytophthora pathogens harness a specialized form of invasive tip growth to slice through the plant surface, wielding their hypha as a microscopic knife. Slicing requires a sharp hyphal tip that is not blunted at the site of the mechanical interaction. How tip shape is controlled, however, is unknown. We uncover an actin-based mechanostat in Phytophthora infestans that controls tip sharpness during penetration. Mechanical stimulation of the hypha leads to the emergence of an aster-like actin configuration, which shows fast, local, and quantitative feedback to the local stress. We evidence that this functions as an adaptive mechanical scaffold that sharpens

SUBMITTER: Bronkhorst J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9187236 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature