科研之友
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摘要
Autophagy serves as a survival mechanism against starvation and has been reported to be important for cell growth and differentiation in eukaryotes. Here, we investigated the function of a cysteine protease BcAtg4 in the gray mold fungus Botrytis cinerea. Yeast complementation experiments revealed that Bcatg4 can functionally replace the counterpart of yeast. Subcellular localization exhibited that BcAtg4 diffused in cytoplasm at different developmental stages. Targeted gene deletion of Bcatg4 (Bcatg4) led to autophagy blocking and a significant retardation in growth and conidiation. In addition, Bcatg4 failed to form sclerotia. Infection tests demonstrated that Bcatg4 was severely attenuated in virulence on different host plant tissues. All of the phenotypic defects were restored by reintroducing an intact copy of Bcatg4 into Bcatg4. These results indicate that Bcatg4 plays multiple roles in the developmental processes and pathogenesis of B. cinerea.
