MoSnt2-dependent deacetylation of histone H3 mediates MoTor-dependent autophagy and plant infection by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae

Min He, Youpin Xu, Jinhua Chen, Yuan Luo, Yang Lv, Jia Su, Michael J. Kershaw, Weitao Li, Jing Wang, Junjie Yin, Xiaobo Zhu, Xiaohong Liu, Mawsheng Chern, Bingtian Ma, Jichun Wang, Peng Qin, Weilan Chen, Yuping Wang, Wenming Wang, Zhenglong RenXianjun Wu, Ping Li, Shigui Li, Youliang Peng, Fucheng Lin, Nicholas J. Talbot, Xuewei Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

78 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Autophagy is essential for appressorium-mediated plant infection by Magnaporthe oryzae, the causal agent of rice blast disease and a major threat to global food security. The regulatory mechanism of pathogenicity-associated autophagy, however, remains largely unknown. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of a plausible ortholog of yeast SNT2 in M. oryzae, which we term MoSNT2. Deletion mutants of MoSNT2 are compromised in autophagy homeostasis and display severe defects in autophagy-dependent fungal cell death and pathogenicity. These mutants are also impaired in infection structure development, conidiation, oxidative stress tolerance and cell wall integrity. MoSnt2 recognizes histone H3 acetylation through its PHD1 domain and thereby recruits the histone deacetylase complex, resulting in deacetylation of H3. MoSnt2 binds to promoters of autophagy genes MoATG6, 15, 16, and 22 to regulate their expression. In addition, MoTor controls MoSNT2 expression to regulate MoTor signaling which leads to autophagy and rice infection. Our study provides evidence of a direct link between MoSnt2 and MoTor signaling and defines a novel epigenetic mechanism by which MoSNT2 regulates infection-associated autophagy and plant infection by the rice blast fungus.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1543-1561
Number of pages19
JournalAutophagy
Volume14
Issue number9
Early online date31 Aug 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2018

Keywords

  • Autophagy
  • Magnaporthe oryzae
  • MoSnt2
  • MoTor signaling
  • pathogenicity
  • TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR
  • ASEXUAL DIFFERENTIATION
  • EPIGENETIC REGULATION
  • FUSARIUM-OXYSPORUM
  • PATHOGENIC FUNGUS
  • OXIDATIVE STRESS
  • GENE-EXPRESSION
  • COMPLEX
  • ACETYLATION
  • GRISEA

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