biostudies-literatureUnknown12(6)Tollot MThe biotrophic basidiomycete fungus Ustilago maydis causes smut disease in maize. Hallmarks of the disease are large tumors that develop on all aerial parts of the host in which dark pigmented teliospores are formed. We have identified a member of the WOPR family of transcription factors, Ros1, as major regulator of spore formation in U. maydis. ros1 expression is induced only late during infection and hence Ros1 is neither involved in plant colonization of dikaryotic fungal hyphae nor in plant tumor formation. However, during late stages of infection Ros1 is essential for fungal karyogamy, massive proliferation of diploid fungal cells and spore formation. Premature expression of ros1 revealed that Ros1 counteracts the b-dependent filamentation program and induces morphological alterationsPLoS pathogense1005697https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC4917244biostudies-literatureThe WOPR Protein Ros1 Is a Master Regulator of Sporogenesis and Late Effector Gene Expression in the Maize Pathogen Ustilago maydis.PMC4917244Wegner CEAssmann DDutheil JYKahmann RTollot MBecker CAltmuller JfalseThe WOPR Protein Ros1 Is a Master Regulator of Sporogenesis and Late Effector Gene Expression in the Maize Pathogen Ustilago maydis.The biotrophic basidiomycete fungus Ustilago maydis causes smut disease in maize. Hallmarks of the disease are large tumors that develop on all aerial parts of the host in which dark pigmented teliospores are formed. We have identified a member of the WOPR family of transcription factors, Ros1, as major regulator of spore formation in U. maydis. ros1 expression is induced only late during infection and hence Ros1 is neither involved in plant colonization of dikaryotic fungal hyphae nor in plant tumor formation. However, during late stages of infection Ros1 is essential for fungal karyogamy, massive proliferation of diploid fungal cells and spore formation. Premature expression of ros1 revealed that Ros1 counteracts the b-dependent filamentation program and induces morphological alterations2016-01-01T00:00:00Z2016 Jun2026-05-30T11:15:53.508Z2019-03-26T22:47:11ZS-EPMC49172442733289110.1371/journal.ppat.1005697