The CH Transcription Factor Con7 Regulates Vegetative Growth, Cell Wall Integrity, Oxidative Stress, Asexual Sporulation, Appressorium and Hyphopodium Formation, and Pathogenicity in and .

The genus is listed as one of the top 10 important plant pathogens, causing significant economic losses worldwide. The CH zinc finger protein serves as a crucial transcription factor regulating growth and development in fungi. In this study, we identified two CH transcription factors, CgrCon7 and CsCon7, in and , as the orthologs of Con7p in . Both CgrCon7 and CsCon7 have a typical CH zinc finger domain and exhibit visible nuclear localization. Disrupting or led to a decreased growth rate, changes in cell wall integrity, and low tolerance to HO. Moreover, the deletion of or dramatically decreased conidial production, and their knockout mutants also lost the ability to produce appressoria and hyphopodia. Pathogenicity assays displayed that deleting or resulted in a complete loss of virulence. Transcriptome analysis showed that CgrCon7 and CsCon7 were involved in regulating many genes related to ROS detoxification, chitin synthesis, and cell wall degradation, etc. In conclusion, CgrCon7 and CsCon7 act as master transcription factors coordinating vegetative growth, oxidative stress response, cell wall integrity, asexual sporulation, appressorium formation, and pathogenicity in and .