In prokaryotes and eukaryotes, multidrug resistance (MDR) transporters use energy-dependent efflux action to regulate the intracellular levels of antibiotic or xenobiotic compounds. Using mutational analysis of ABC3, we define an important role for such MDR-based efflux during the host penetration step of Magnaporthe grisea pathogenesis. Mutants lacking ABC3 were completely nonpathogenic but we...

In a previous transcriptome analysis of early response genes in rice during Magnaporthe oryzae infection, we identified a CONSTANS-like (COL) gene OsCOL9. In the present study, we investigated the functional roles of OsCOL9 in blast resistance. OsCOL9 belonged to group II of the COL protein family, and it contained a BB-box and a C-terminal CCT (CONSTANS, COL and TOC1) domain. OsCOL9 was found ...

Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe grisea, is the most important fungal disease of cultivated rice worldwide. We have developed a strategy for creating disease resistance to M. grisea whereby pathogen-induced expression of the afp (antifungal protein) gene from Aspergillus giganteus occurs in transgenic rice plants. Here, we evaluated the activity of the promoters from three maize pathogenesis-r...

Fusarium head blight caused by Fusarium graminearum is an important disease of wheat and barley worldwide. In a previous study on functional characterization of the F. graminearum kinome, one protein kinase gene important for virulence is orthologous to SCH9 that is functionally related to the cAMP-PKA and TOR pathways in the budding yeast. In this study, we further characterized the functions ...

Mycoviruses causing impaired growth and abnormal pigmentation of the host were found in the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. Four dsRNAs, dsRNA 1 (3554 bp), dsRNA 2 (3250 bp), dsRNA 3 (307 bp) and dsRNA 4 (3043 bp), were detected in isolate S-0412-II 1a of M. oryzae. By picking up single conidia of S-0412-II 1a, cured strains of the fungus were isolated that had completely lost the mycovi...

In prokaryotes and eukaryotes, multidrug resistance (MDR) transporters use energy-dependent efflux action to regulate the intracellular levels of antibiotic or xenobiotic compounds. Using mutational analysis of ABC3, we define an important role for such MDR-based efflux during the host penetration step of Magnaporthe grisea pathogenesis. Mutants lacking ABC3 were completely nonpathogenic but we...