A copper-transporting ATPase BcCCC2 is necessary for pathogenicity of Botrytis cinerea

作者：Saitoh Yoshimoto; Izumitsu Kosuke; Morita Atsushi; Tanaka Chihiro^*

来源：Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 2010, 284(1): 33-43.

DOI：10.1007/s00438-010-0545-4

• Botrytis cinerea
• Copper-transporting ATPase
• Filamentous fungus
• Plant pathogenicity

Copper is an essential trace element that serves as a cofactor for numerous enzymes. In eukaryotes, copper-transporting ATPases deliver copper to various copper-containing proteins in the trans-golgi network. This study identified a copper-transporting ATPase gene BcCcc2 in a fungus pathogenic to plants, Botrytis cinerea. We investigated the biological roles of BcCCC2 by generating null mutants for BcCcc2. Melanization, conidiation and the formation of sclerotia were severely affected in a dagger BcCcc2 mutants. Moreover, a pathogenicity assay using tomato leaves and carnation petals revealed the mutants to be nonpathogenic. Further analysis indicated that they formed fewer appressoria and infection cushions than the wild-type. These structures were aberrant in morphology and in many cases had a significantly reduced ability to penetrate the plant epidermis. An assay also indicated that a dagger BcCcc2 mutants were defective in infection through wounds. BcCCC2 is necessary not only for penetrating a host but also for fungal growth within plant tissues. Our results also imply that B. cinerea requires copper-containing proteins for infection that are inactive in the absence of the copper-transporting ATPase BcCCC2.

• 出版日期2010-7