Luciano-Rosario Dianiris, Peng Hui, Gaskins Verneta L, Fonseca Jorge M, Keller Nancy P, Jurick Wayne M
Food Quality Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
Everglades Research and Education Center, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Belle Glade, FL 33430, USA.
J Fungi (Basel). 2023 Nov 1;9(11):1066. doi: 10.3390/jof9111066.
Blue mold, a postharvest disease of pome fruits, is caused by the filamentous fungus . In addition to the economic losses caused by , food safety can be compromised, as this pathogen is mycotoxigenic. In this study, forward and reverse genetic approaches were used to identify genes involved in blue mold infection in apple fruits. For this, we generated a random T-DNA insertional mutant library. A total of 448 transformants were generated and screened for the reduced decay phenotype on apples. Of these mutants, six (T-193, T-275, T-434, T-588, T-625, and T-711) were selected for continued studies and five unique genes were identified of interest. In addition, two deletion mutants (Δ and Δ) and a knockdown strain (t-434) were generated for three loci. Data show that the ∆ mutant phenocopied the T-DNA insertion mutant and had virulence penalties during apple fruit decay. We hypothesize that this locus encodes a glyoxalase due to bioinformatic predictions, thus contributing to reduced colony diameter when grown in methylglyoxal (MG). This work presents novel members of signaling networks and additional genetic factors that regulate fungal virulence in the blue mold fungus during apple fruit decay.
青霉病是仁果类水果的一种采后病害，由丝状真菌引起。除了由其造成的经济损失外，食品安全也会受到影响，因为这种病原菌会产生霉菌毒素。在本研究中，采用正向和反向遗传学方法来鉴定苹果果实中与青霉感染相关的基因。为此，我们构建了一个随机T-DNA插入突变体文库。共获得448个转化体，并在苹果上筛选出腐烂表型减弱的突变体。在这些突变体中，挑选出6个（T-193、T-275、T-434、T-588、T-625和T-711）进行后续研究，并鉴定出5个感兴趣的独特基因。此外，针对三个基因座构建了两个缺失突变体（Δ和Δ）和一个敲低菌株（t-434）。数据表明，Δ突变体模拟了T-DNA插入突变体的表型，并且在苹果果实腐烂过程中具有毒力缺陷。根据生物信息学预测，我们推测该基因座编码一种乙二醛酶，因此在甲基乙二醛（MG）中生长时会导致菌落直径减小。这项工作揭示了信号网络的新成员以及在苹果果实腐烂过程中调节青霉菌真菌毒力的其他遗传因素。
