The relationship between the antioxidant system and the virulence in Ustilago maydis, a fungal pathogen

Fungal cells deal with a wide variety of toxic environmental conditions during their life cycle. An important example of stress challenge to which fungi must cope is the high levels of ROS produced by the host during the oxidative burst. Ustilago maydis (D.C.) Corda is an important model system for plant pathogen smut and rust fungi. Genome wide analyses of this pathogen provide an insight into the cellular responses against reactive species in plant-microbe interactions. Little is known about the U. maydis antioxidant defense systems or whether constituents of these systems are essential for virulence. This review focuses on the search of sequences involved in oxidative stress response in the U. maydis genome. Finally, we compared different defense responses and how these might contribute to the virulence of fungal pathogen.