VdSNF1, the sucrose nonfermenting protein kinase gene of Verticillium dahliae, is required for virulence and expression of genes involved in cell-wall degradation.

Verticillium dahliae is a soilborne fungus causing vascular wilt in a diverse array of plant species. Its virulence has been attributed, among other factors, to the activity of hydrolytic cell wall-degrading enzymes (CWDE). The sucrose nonfermenting 1 gene (VdSNF1), which regulates catabolic repression, was disrupted in V. dahliae tomato race 1. Expression of CWDE in the resulting mutants was not induced in inductive medium and in simulated xylem fluid medium. Growth of the mutants was significantly reduced when grown with pectin or galactose as a carbon source whereas, with glucose, sucrose, and xylose, they grew similarly to wild-type and ectopic transformants. The mutants were severely impaired in virulence on tomato and eggplant (final disease severity reduced by an average of 87%). Microscopic observation of the infection behavior of a green fluorescent protein (gfp)-labeled VdSNF1 mutant (70ΔSF-gfp1) showed that it was defective in initial colonization of roots. Cross sections of tomato stem at the cotyledonary level showed that 70ΔSF-gfp1 colonized xylem vessels considerably less than the wild-type strain. The wild-type strain heavily colonized xylem vessels and adjacent parenchyma cells. Quantification of fungal biomass in plant tissues further confirmed reduced colonization of roots, stems, and cotyledons by 70ΔSF-gfp1 relative to that by the wild-type strain.

Roles of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A in virulence and development of the soilborne plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae.

Verticillium dahliae is a soilborne fungus that causes vascular wilt disease in a broad range of hosts and survives for many years in the soil in the form of microsclerotia. Although the role of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) has been extensively studied in foliar pathogens, there is limited information about its role in soilborne fungal pathogens that infect through the root system. Genome database search revealed the presence of two PKA catalytic subunit genes in V. dahliae, named VdPKAC1 and VdPKAC2. A phylogenetic analysis showed that VdPKAC2 groups with fungal PKA catalytic subunits that appear to play a minor role in PKA activity. This gene was expressed considerably lower than that of VdPKAC1. Although disruption of VdPKAC1 did not affect the ability of V. dahliae to infect through the roots of tomato and eggplant, disease severity was significantly reduced. Since pathogen-derived ethylene is presumed to play a major role in symptom induction in vascular wilt diseases, ethylene generation was measured in fungal culture. The mutants defective in VdPKAC1 produced less ethylene than the corresponding wild type strains, suggesting a regulatory role of PKA in ethylene biosynthesis. Growth rates of these mutants were similar to those of wild type strains, while the rate of spore germination was slightly elevated and conidia production was significantly reduced. When grown on minimal media, the mutants showed greater microsclerotia production compared with the wild type strains. These results suggest multiple roles of VdPKAC1, including virulence, conidiation, microsclerotia formation, and ethylene biosynthesis, in the soilborne fungus V. dahliae.

Mutations in VMK1, a mitogen-activated protein kinase gene, affect microsclerotia formation and pathogenicity in Verticillium dahliae.

Verticillium dahliae is an important soil-borne fungal pathogen that causes vascular wilt diseases in a large variety of important crop plants. Due to its persistence in the soil, control of Verticillium wilt relies heavily on soil fumigation. The global ban on methyl bromide, a highly effective soil fumigant, poses an urgent need to develop alternative control measures against Verticillium wilt; and these might be more forthcoming with a better understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underpin the pathogenicity of V. dahliae. In this study, we assessed the role in growth, development, and pathogenicity of VMK1, a gene encoding a mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (hence, Verticillium MAP Kinase 1). Disruption of VMK1 via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation, in two V. dahliae isolates, one from lettuce and the other from tomato, resulted in severely reduced virulence in diverse host plants, suggesting that VMK1 is essential for pathogenicity and that the MAP kinase-mediated signaling pathway has a conserved role in fungal pathogenicity. The vmk1 mutants also exhibited reduced conidiation and microsclerotia formation, suggesting that the gene is important for multiple cellular processes.