Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605, USA.
Fungal Genet Biol. 2012 Jun;49(6):426-32. doi: 10.1016/j.fgb.2012.04.002. Epub 2012 Apr 19.
Mating of compatible haploid cells of Ustilago maydis is essential for infection and disease development in the host. For mating and subsequent filamentous growth and pathogenicity, the transcription factor, prf1 is necessary. Prf1 is in turn regulated by the cAMP and MAPK pathways and other regulators like rop1 and hap1. Here we describe the identification of another putative Prf1 regulator, med1, the ortholog of the Aspergillus nidulans medusa (medA) transcription factor and show that it is required for mating and full virulence in U. maydis. med1 deletion mutants show both pre- and post-mating defects and are unresponsive to external pheromone. The expression of prf1 is down-regulated in Δmed1 compared to the wild type, suggesting that med1 is upstream of prf1. Additionally, indicative of a role in secondary metabolism regulation, deletion of the med1 gene de-represses the production of glycolipids in U. maydis.
玉米黑粉菌可育单倍体细胞的交配对于在宿主中感染和疾病的发展至关重要。对于交配以及随后的丝状生长和致病性，转录因子 Prf1 是必需的。Prf1 反过来又受到 cAMP 和 MAPK 途径以及其他调节剂如 rop1 和 hap1 的调节。在这里，我们描述了另一个假定的 Prf1 调节剂 med1 的鉴定，它是 Aspergillus nidulans 美杜莎（medA）转录因子的同源物，并表明它是玉米黑粉菌交配和完全毒力所必需的。med1 缺失突变体显示出交配前和交配后的缺陷，并且对外源信息素无反应。与野生型相比，Δmed1 中 prf1 的表达下调，表明 med1 位于 prf1 的上游。此外，表明其在次级代谢物调节中的作用，med1 基因的缺失消除了玉米黑粉菌中糖脂的产生。
