Fungi are known to adapt to pH partly via specific activation of the Pal signaling pathway and subsequent gene regulation through the transcription factor PacC. The role of PacC in pathogenic fungi has been explored in few species, and each time its partaking in virulence has been found. We studied the impact of pH and the role of PacC in the biology of the rice pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. Con...

The 1.6 and 1.8 kbp dsRNAs have been found in the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea strain MG01. These dsRNA molecules are located in cytoplasm of the fungal cells and maintained stably during vegetative growth. Three crosses between dsRNA free and dsRNA containing strains including a parental cross, sib-mating and back cross were made to follow the inheritance of dsRNAs during sexual repro...

The ACE1 and RAP1 genes from the avirulence signalling gene cluster of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae were expressed in Aspergillus oryzae and M. oryzae itself. Expression of ACE1 alone produced a polyenyl pyrone (magnaporthepyrone), which is regioselectively epoxidised and hydrolysed to give different diols, 6 and 7, in the two host organisms. Analysis of the three introns present in...

The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea develops specialized infection structures known as appressoria, which develop enormous turgor pressure to bring about plant infection. Turgor is generated by accumulation of compatible solutes, including glycerol, which is synthesized in large quantities in the appressorium. Glycogen, trehalose and lipids represent the most abundant storage products in M...

Drought and rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae are two of the most serious threats to global rice production. To explore the mechanisms underlying gene expression induced in rice by stresses, studies involving transcriptome analyses have been conducted over the past few years. Thus, it is crucial to have a reliable set of reference genes to normalize the expression levels of rice g...

To investigate the mitotic dynamics of an appressorium, we used time-lapse confocal imaging of a fluorescence-based mitotic reporter strain of Magnaporthe oryzae. We present evidence that: (i) appressoria remain viable and mitotically active after host penetration, (ii) appressorial mitosis, like invasive hyphal mitosis, is semi-closed, (iii) sister chromatids separate within the appressorium, ...

To investigate the mitotic dynamics of an appressorium, we used time-lapse confocal imaging of a fluorescence-based mitotic reporter strain of Magnaporthe oryzae. We present evidence that: (i) appressoria remain viable and mitotically active after host penetration, (ii) appressorial mitosis, like invasive hyphal mitosis, is semi-closed, (iii) sister chromatids separate within the appressorium, ...

Plant innate immunity is mediated by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and intracellular NB-LRR (nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat) proteins. Overexpression of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone, luminal-binding protein 3 (BiP3) compromises resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) mediated by the rice PRR XA21 [12]. Here we show that BiP3 overexpression also co...

The brassinosteroid-SIGNALING KINASE (BSK) belongs to the receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase XII subgroup. BSK1 regulates development and immunity in Arabidopsis. However, the function of rice (Oryza sativa) BSK1 is largely unknown. Here, we report that the expression level of OsBSK1-2 is induced after a chitin or fagellin22 (flg22) treatment. Silencing OsBSK1-2 in rice results in compromised res...

Rice blast is caused by the fungus Magnaporthe grisea, which elaborates specialized infection cells called appressoria to penetrate the tough outer cuticle of the rice plant Oryza sativa. We found that the formation of an appressorium required, sequentially, the completion of mitosis, nuclear migration, and death of the conidium (fungal spore) from which the infection originated. Genetic interv...