Balancing of the mitotic exit network and cell wall integrity signaling governs the development and pathogenicity in Magnaporthe oryzae

PLoS Pathog. 2021 Jan 7;17(1):e1009080. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009080. eCollection 2021 Jan.

Abstract

The fungal cell wall plays an essential role in maintaining cell morphology, transmitting external signals, controlling cell growth, and even virulence. Relaxation and irreversible stretching of the cell wall are the prerequisites of cell division and development, but they also inevitably cause cell wall stress. Both Mitotic Exit Network (MEN) and Cell Wall Integrity (CWI) are signaling pathways that govern cell division and cell stress response, respectively, how these pathways cross talk to govern and coordinate cellular growth, development, and pathogenicity remains not fully understood. We have identified MoSep1, MoDbf2, and MoMob1 as the conserved components of MEN from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. We have found that blocking cell division results in abnormal CWI signaling. In addition, we discovered that MoSep1 targets MoMkk1, a conserved key MAP kinase of the CWI pathway, through protein phosphorylation that promotes CWI signaling. Moreover, we provided evidence demonstrating that MoSep1-dependent MoMkk1 phosphorylation is essential for balancing cell division with CWI that maintains the dynamic stability required for virulence of the blast fungus.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Wall / microbiology
  • Cell Wall / physiology*
  • Fungal Proteins / genetics
  • Fungal Proteins / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal*
  • Magnaporthe / pathogenicity*
  • Mitosis*
  • Oryza / microbiology*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology*
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • Fungal Proteins

Grants and funding

This study was supported by NSFC-DFG (Grant No.31861133017, URL: http://www.nsfc.gov.cn, grant recipient Z.Z) and Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.31671979, URL: http://www.nsfc.gov.cn, grant recipient X.Z), by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No.KYT201805, URL: http://kxyjy.njau.edu.cn, grant recipient Z.Z) and by Innovation Team Program for Jiangsu Universities (Grant No.2017, URL: http://www.ec.js.edu.cn, grant recipient Z.Z). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.