Brefort Thomas, Doehlemann Gunther, Mendoza-Mendoza Artemio, Reissmann Stefanie, Djamei Armin, Kahmann Regine
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Department of Organismic Interactions, D-35043 Marburg, Germany.
Annu Rev Phytopathol. 2009;47:423-45. doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-080508-081923.
The Ustilago maydis-maize pathosystem has emerged as the current model for plant pathogenic basidiomycetes and as one of the few models for a true biotrophic interaction that persists throughout fungal development inside the host plant. This is based on the highly advanced genetic system for both the pathogen and its host, the ability to propagate U. maydis in axenic culture, and its unique capacity to induce prominent disease symptoms (tumors) on all aerial parts of maize within less than a week. The corn smut pathogen, though economically not threatening, will continue to serve as a model for related obligate biotrophic fungi such as the rusts, but also for closely related smut species that induce symptoms only in the flower organs of their hosts. In this review we describe the most prominent features of the U. maydis-maize pathosystem as well as genes and pathways most relevant to disease. We highlight recent developments that place this system at the forefront of understanding the function of secreted effectors in eukaryotic pathogens and describe the expected spin-offs for closely related species exploiting comparative genomics approaches.
玉蜀黍黑粉菌-玉米互作系统已成为当前植物病原担子菌的模型，也是少数几个贯穿于真菌在寄主植物内整个发育过程的真正活体营养型互作模型之一。这是基于该病原菌及其寄主高度先进的遗传系统、在无菌培养条件下繁殖玉蜀黍黑粉菌的能力，以及其在不到一周的时间内在玉米所有地上部分诱发显著病害症状（肿瘤）的独特能力。玉米黑粉病菌虽然在经济上没有威胁，但它将继续作为相关专性活体营养型真菌（如锈菌）的模型，也作为仅在寄主花器官中诱发症状的近缘黑粉菌物种的模型。在本综述中，我们描述了玉蜀黍黑粉菌-玉米互作系统的最显著特征以及与病害最相关的基因和途径。我们强调了最近的进展，这些进展使该系统处于理解真核病原体中分泌效应子功能的前沿，并描述了利用比较基因组学方法为近缘物种带来的预期成果。
