Pathogenic Dothideomycete-Plant Interactions

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2022) | Viewed by 11114

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
Interests: plant pathology; plant-fungal interactions; fungal secondary metabolism; polyketides; transcriptomics; regulatory science

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The fungal class Dothideomycetes is a large group containing over 1,300 genera and 19,000 species, many of which are necrotrophic or hemibiotrophic plant pathogens. Among these are economically devastating pathogens such as Pseudocercospora fijiensis, Bipolaris maydis, and Zymoseptoria tritici, which cause black Sigatoka disease of banana, southern corn leaf blight, and Septoria leaf blotch of wheat, respectively. Due to their economic importance, plant interactions with fungi from this class are of special interest, and we are only beginning to understand the molecular basis by which this class has been so successful at overcoming plant defense responses. Some of these mechanisms include the production of effector proteins, secondary metabolites, and plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, as well as factors that may speed fungal adaptation, such as accessory chromosomes and proximity of pathogenicity genes to transposable elements. This Special Issue of Plants will feature the molecular basis of plant interactions with pathogens from the class Dothideomycetes.

Dr. Roslyn Noar
Dr. Elizabeth Thomas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant pathology
  • plant-fungal interactions
  • Dothideomycetes
  • secondary metabolism
  • effectors
  • genomics

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 2383 KiB  
Article
Targeted Gene Mutations in the Forest Pathogen Dothistroma septosporum Using CRISPR/Cas9
by Hannah M. McCarthy, Mariana Tarallo, Carl H. Mesarich, Rebecca L. McDougal and Rosie E. Bradshaw
Plants 2022, 11(8), 1016; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11081016 - 8 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2516
Abstract
Dothistroma needle blight, caused by Dothistroma septosporum, has increased in incidence and severity over the last few decades and is now one of the most important global diseases of pines. Disease resistance breeding could be accelerated by knowledge of pathogen virulence factors [...] Read more.
Dothistroma needle blight, caused by Dothistroma septosporum, has increased in incidence and severity over the last few decades and is now one of the most important global diseases of pines. Disease resistance breeding could be accelerated by knowledge of pathogen virulence factors and their host targets. However, this is hindered due to inefficient targeted gene disruption in D. septosporum, which is required for virulence gene characterisation. Here we report the first successful application of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to a Dothideomycete forest pathogen, D. septosporum. Disruption of the dothistromin pathway regulator gene AflR, with a known phenotype, was performed using nonhomologous end-joining repair with an efficiency of >90%. Transformants with a range of disruption mutations in AflR were produced. Disruption of Ds74283, a D. septosporum gene encoding a secreted cell death elicitor, was also achieved using CRISPR/Cas9, by using a specific donor DNA repair template to aid selection where the phenotype was unknown. In this case, 100% of screened transformants were identified as disruptants. In establishing CRISPR/Cas9 as a tool for gene editing in D. septosporum, our research could fast track the functional characterisation of candidate virulence factors in D. septosporum and helps set the foundation for development of this technology in other forest pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Dothideomycete-Plant Interactions)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

23 pages, 1667 KiB  
Review
Does Abiotic Host Stress Favour Dothideomycete-Induced Disease Development?
by Laura Röhrig and Francois Dussart
Plants 2022, 11(12), 1615; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11121615 - 20 Jun 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3094
Abstract
Dothideomycetes represent one of the largest and diverse class of fungi. This class exhibits a wide diversity of lifestyles, including endophytic, saprophytic, pathogenic and parasitic organisms. Plant pathogenic fungi are particularly common within the Dothideomycetes and are primarily found within the orders of [...] Read more.
Dothideomycetes represent one of the largest and diverse class of fungi. This class exhibits a wide diversity of lifestyles, including endophytic, saprophytic, pathogenic and parasitic organisms. Plant pathogenic fungi are particularly common within the Dothideomycetes and are primarily found within the orders of Pleosporales, Botryosphaeriales and Capnodiales. As many Dothideomycetes can infect crops used as staple foods around the world, such as rice, wheat, maize or banana, this class of fungi is highly relevant to food security. In the context of climate change, food security faces unprecedented pressure. The benefits of a more plant-based diet to both health and climate have long been established, therefore the demand for crop production is expected to increase. Further adding pressure on food security, both the prevalence of diseases caused by fungi and the yield losses associated with abiotic stresses on crops are forecast to increase in all climate change scenarios. Furthermore, abiotic stresses can greatly influence the outcome of the host-pathogen interaction. This review focuses on the impact of abiotic stresses on the host in the development of diseases caused by Dothideomycete fungi. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Dothideomycete-Plant Interactions)
Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 1423 KiB  
Review
Genetic Characteristics and Metabolic Interactions between Pseudocercospora fijiensis and Banana: Progress toward Controlling Black Sigatoka
by Roslyn D. Noar, Elizabeth Thomas and Margaret E. Daub
Plants 2022, 11(7), 948; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11070948 - 31 Mar 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4726
Abstract
The international importance of banana and severity of black Sigatoka disease have led to extensive investigations into the genetic characteristics and metabolic interactions between the Dothideomycete Pseudocercospora fijiensis and its banana host. P. fijiensis was shown to have a greatly expanded genome compared [...] Read more.
The international importance of banana and severity of black Sigatoka disease have led to extensive investigations into the genetic characteristics and metabolic interactions between the Dothideomycete Pseudocercospora fijiensis and its banana host. P. fijiensis was shown to have a greatly expanded genome compared to other Dothideomycetes, due to the proliferation of retrotransposons. Genome analysis suggests the presence of dispensable chromosomes that may aid in fungal adaptation as well as pathogenicity. Genomic research has led to the characterization of genes and metabolic pathways involved in pathogenicity, including: secondary metabolism genes such as PKS10-2, genes for mitogen-activated protein kinases such as Fus3 and Slt2, and genes for cell wall proteins such as glucosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI) and glycophospholipid surface (Gas) proteins. Studies conducted on resistance mechanisms in banana have documented the role of jasmonic acid and ethylene pathways. With the development of banana transformation protocols, strategies for engineering resistance include transgenes expressing antimicrobial peptides or hydrolytic enzymes as well as host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) targeting pathogenicity genes. Pseudocercospora fijiensis has been identified as having high evolutionary potential, given its large genome size, ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually, and long-distance spore dispersal. Thus, multiple control measures are needed for the sustainable control of black Sigatoka disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenic Dothideomycete-Plant Interactions)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop