Abstract
ABSTRACT Previous work identified a pair of specific effectors AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 in Alternaria solani as contributors to the virulence of A. solani . Here, we constructed AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 deletion mutants in A. solani strain HWC168 to further reveal the effects of these genes on the biology and pathogenicity of A. solani . Deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 did not affect vegetative growth but did affect conidial maturation, with an increase in the percentage of abnormal conidia produced. Furthermore, we determined the expression patterns of genes involved in the conidiogenesis pathway and found that the regulatory gene abaA was significantly upregulated and chsA , a positive regulator for conidiation, was significantly downregulated in the mutant strains compared to the wild-type strain. These results suggest that AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 indirectly affect the conidial development and maturation of A. solani . Pathogenicity assays revealed significantly impaired virulence of Δ AsCEP19 , Δ AsCEP20, and Δ AsCEP19 + AsCEP20 mutants on potato and tomato plants. Moreover, we performed localization assays with green fluorescent protein-tagged proteins in chili pepper leaves. We found that AsCEP19 can specifically localize to the chloroplasts of chili pepper epidermal cells, while AsCEP20 can localize to both chloroplasts and the plasma membrane. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis revealed enrichment of genes of this module in the photosynthesis pathway, with many hub genes associated with chloroplast structure and photosynthesis. These results suggest that chloroplasts are the targets for AsCEP19 and AsCEP20. IMPORTANCE Alternaria solani is an important necrotrophic pathogen causing potato early blight. Previous studies have provide preliminary evidence that specific effectors AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 contribute to virulence, but their respective functions, localization, and pathogenic mechanisms during the infection process of A. solani remain unclear. Here, we have systematically studied the specific effectors AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 for the first time, which are essential for conidial maturation. The deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 can significantly impair fungal pathogenicity. Additionally, we preliminarily revealed that AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 target the chloroplasts of host cells. Our findings further enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the virulence of necrotrophic pathogens.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 did not affect vegetative growth of Alternaria solani.
- Taxon
- potato
Solanum tuberosume0 - Treatment
- Deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20e1
- Interactor
- Alternaria solani
Alternaria solanie0pathogen - Outcome
- vegetative growthe1
- Direction
- did not affecte1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 did not affect vegetative growth but did affect conidial maturation, with an increase in the percentage of abnormal conidia produced”
e0“Alternaria solani is an important necrotrophic pathogen causing potato early blight”
Claim · model-written summary
Deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 increased the percentage of abnormal conidia produced by Alternaria solani.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Treatment
- Deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20e1
- Interactor
- Alternaria solaniAlternaria solanie0pathogen
- Outcome
- percentage of abnormal conidia producede1
- Direction
- increasee1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 did not affect vegetative growth but did affect conidial maturation, with an increase in the percentage of abnormal conidia produced”
e0“Alternaria solani is an important necrotrophic pathogen causing potato early blight”
Claim · model-written summary
In the mutant strains, the regulatory gene abaA was significantly upregulated relative to the wild-type strain.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Treatment
- mutant strainse2
- Gene
- abaAe2
- Outcome
- regulatory gene abaAe2
- Direction
- upregulatede2
- Comparator
- wild-type straine2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Alternaria solani is an important necrotrophic pathogen causing potato early blight”
e2“regulatory gene abaA was significantly upregulated and chsA , a positive regulator for conidiation, was significantly downregulated in the mutant strains compared to the wild-type strain”
Claim · model-written summary
In the mutant strains, chsA , a positive regulator for conidiation, was significantly downregulated relative to the wild-type strain.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Treatment
- mutant strainse2
- Gene
- chsAe2
- Outcome
- chsA , a positive regulator for conidiatione2
- Direction
- downregulatede2
- Comparator
- wild-type straine2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Alternaria solani is an important necrotrophic pathogen causing potato early blight”
e2“regulatory gene abaA was significantly upregulated and chsA , a positive regulator for conidiation, was significantly downregulated in the mutant strains compared to the wild-type strain”
Claim · model-written summary
Deletion of AsCEP19 and AsCEP20 significantly impaired the virulence of Alternaria solani on potato and tomato plants.
- Taxon
- potato and tomato
Solanum lycopersicumSolanum tuberosume4 - Treatment
- Δ AsCEP19 , Δ AsCEP20, and Δ AsCEP19 + AsCEP20 mutantse4
- Interactor
- Alternaria solaniAlternaria solanie0pathogen
- Outcome
- virulencee4
- Direction
- impairede4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e4“Pathogenicity assays revealed significantly impaired virulence of Δ AsCEP19 , Δ AsCEP20, and Δ AsCEP19 + AsCEP20 mutants on potato and tomato plants”
e0“Alternaria solani is an important necrotrophic pathogen causing potato early blight”
Claim · model-written summary
AsCEP19 specifically localizes to the chloroplasts of chili pepper epidermal cells.
- Organ / stage
- epidermal cellse5
- Interactor
- Alternaria solaniAlternaria solanie0pathogen
- Gene
- AsCEP19e5
- Outcome
- localize to the chloroplastse5
- Qualifier
- specificallye5
CapsicumOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e5“AsCEP19 can specifically localize to the chloroplasts of chili pepper epidermal cells, while AsCEP20 can localize to both chloroplasts and the plasma membrane”
e0“Alternaria solani is an important necrotrophic pathogen causing potato early blight”
Claim · model-written summary
AsCEP20 localizes to both chloroplasts and the plasma membrane of chili pepper epidermal cells.
- Interactor
- Alternaria solaniAlternaria solanie0pathogen
- Gene
- AsCEP20e6
- Outcome
- localize to both chloroplasts and the plasma membranee6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e5“AsCEP19 can specifically localize to the chloroplasts of chili pepper epidermal cells, while AsCEP20 can localize to both chloroplasts and the plasma membrane”
e6“AsCEP20 can localize to both chloroplasts and the plasma membrane”
e0“Alternaria solani is an important necrotrophic pathogen causing potato early blight”
Claim · model-written summary
Weighted gene co-expression network analysis showed enrichment of genes of one module in the photosynthesis pathway.
- Outcome
- enrichment of genes of this module in the photosynthesis pathwaye7
- Qualifier
- with many hub genes associated with chloroplast structure and photosynthesise7
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e7“Weighted gene co-expression network analysis revealed enrichment of genes of this module in the photosynthesis pathway, with many hub genes associated with chloroplast structure and photosynthesis”
The same questions in other papers
loss of function · Alternaria solani · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- negative
loss of function · Alternaria solani · Solanum tuberosum (potato)Positive and negative results
4 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- negative
2 papers more in this group
See all 6 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.