BDM1 regulates virulence in Fusarium graminearum

• Published in: Phytopathology Vol. 100; no. 6; p. S52
• Main Authors: Horevaj, P, Xu, J, Bluhm, B H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-06-2010
• Subjects: Cryphonectria parasitica; Fusarium graminearum; Triticum aestivum
• ISSN: 0031-949X

Fusarium graminearum causes head blight of wheat, as well as ear, kernel, and stalk rots of corn. During pathogenesis, it can produce numerous mycotoxins, including zearalenone and trichothecenes such as deoxynivalenol. Although the genes encoding the biosynthetic enzymes required for mycotoxin biosynthesis have been identified in the fungus, the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenesis and mycotoxigenesis are not fully understood. In this study, an ortholog of BDM1, a virulence factor in the chestnut blight pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica, was disrupted in F. graminearum via split-marker homologous recombination. The phenotype of the disruption mutant was pleiotropic, including morphological abnormalities (e.g., the formation of knotted hyphae) and a substantial reduction in virulence on wheat heads. The functional characterization of BDM1 in F. graminearum expands the current working model of how pathogenesis is regulated and suggests that orthologs of BDM1 serve as virulence factors in taxonomically diverse fungal pathogens.