Reactive oxygen species: A generalist in regulating development and pathogenicity of phytopathogenic fungi

Zhanquan Zhang; Yong Chen; Boqiang Li; Tong Chen; Shiping Tian

doi:10.1016/j.csbj.2020.10.024

Reactive oxygen species: A generalist in regulating development and pathogenicity of phytopathogenic fungi

Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2020 Nov 4:18:3344-3349. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.10.024. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Zhanquan Zhang¹, Yong Chen¹, Boqiang Li¹, Tong Chen¹, Shiping Tian^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are small molecules with high oxidative activity, and are usually produced as byproducts of metabolic processes in organisms. ROS play an important role during the interaction between plant hosts and pathogenic fungi. Phytopathogenic fungi have evolved sophisticated ROS producing and scavenging systems to achieve redox homeostasis. Emerging evidences suggest that ROS derived from fungi are involved in various important aspects of the development and pathogenesis, including formation of conidia, sclerotia, conidial anastomosis tubes (CATs) and infectious structures. In this mini-review, we summarize the research progress on the redox homeostasis systems, the versatile functions of ROS in the development and pathogenesis of phytopathogenic fungi, and the regulation effects of exogenous factors on intercellular ROS and virulence of the fungal pathogens.

Keywords: Development; Function; Plant fungal pathogen; Reactive oxygen species; Virulence.

Publication types

Review