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Sesma, Ane 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3982-8932 and Osbourn, Anne E.
(2004)
The rice leaf blast pathogen undergoes developmental processes typical of root-infecting fungi.
Nature, 431.
pp. 582-586.
Abstract
Pathogens have evolved different strategies to overcome the various barriers that they encounter during infection of their hosts1. The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea causes one of the most damaging diseases of cultivated rice and has emerged as a paradigm system for investigation of foliar pathogenicity. This fungus undergoes a series of well-defined developmental steps during leaf infection, including the formation of elaborate penetration structures (appressoria). This process has been studied in great detail2, and over thirty M. grisea genes that condition leaf infection have been identified3. Here we show a new facet of the M. grisea life cycle: this fungus can undergo a different (and previously uncharacterized) set of programmed developmental events that are typical of root-infecting pathogens. We also show that root colonization can lead to systemic invasion and the development of classical disease symptoms on the aerial parts of the plant. Gene-for-gene type specific disease resistance that is effective against rice blast in leaves also operates in roots. These findings have significant implications for fungal development, epidemiology, plant breeding and disease control.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > The Sainsbury Laboratory |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jan 2020 02:02 |
| Last Modified: | 16 May 2023 07:30 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/73669 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/nature02880 |
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