NADPH oxidases regulate septin-mediated cytoskeletal remodeling during plant infection by the rice blast fungus

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Feb 19;110(8):3179-84. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1217470110. Epub 2013 Feb 4.

Abstract

The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae infects plants with a specialized cell called an appressorium, which uses turgor to drive a rigid penetration peg through the rice leaf cuticle. Here, we show that NADPH oxidases (Nox) are necessary for septin-mediated reorientation of the F-actin cytoskeleton to facilitate cuticle rupture and plant cell invasion. We report that the Nox2-NoxR complex spatially organizes a heteroligomeric septin ring at the appressorium pore, required for assembly of a toroidal F-actin network at the point of penetration peg emergence. Maintenance of the cortical F-actin network during plant infection independently requires Nox1, a second NADPH oxidase, which is necessary for penetration hypha elongation. Organization of F-actin in appressoria is disrupted by application of antioxidants, whereas latrunculin-mediated depolymerization of appressorial F-actin is competitively inhibited by reactive oxygen species, providing evidence that regulated synthesis of reactive oxygen species by fungal NADPH oxidases directly controls septin and F-actin dynamics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cytoskeleton*
  • Magnaporthe / pathogenicity*
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • NADPH Oxidases / metabolism*
  • Oryza / microbiology*
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism
  • Septins / physiology*

Substances

  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • NADPH Oxidases
  • Septins