Gz SNF1 Is Required for Normal Sexual and Asexual Development in the Ascomycete Gibberella zeae

Abstract

ABSTRACT The sucrose nonfermenting 1 ( SNF1 ) protein kinase of yeast plays a central role in the transcription of glucose-repressible genes in response to glucose starvation. In this study, we deleted an ortholog of SNF1 from Gibberella zeae to characterize its functions by using a gene replacement strategy. The mycelial growth of deletion mutants (ΔGz SNF1 ) was reduced by 21 to 74% on diverse carbon sources. The virulence of ΔGz SNF1 mutants on barley decreased, and the expression of genes encoding cell-wall-degrading enzymes was reduced. The most distinct phenotypic changes were in sexual and asexual development. ΔGz SNF1 mutants produced 30% fewer perithecia, which matured more slowly, and asci that contained one to eight abnormally shaped ascospores. Mutants in which only the Gz SNF1 catalytic domain was deleted had the same phenotype changes as the ΔGz SNF1 strains, but the phenotype was less extreme in the mutants with the regulatory domain deleted. In outcrosses between the ΔGz SNF1 mutants, each perithecium contained ∼70% of the abnormal ascospores, and ∼50% of the asci showed unexpected segregation patterns in a single locus tested. The asexual spores of the ΔGz SNF1 mutants were shorter and had fewer septa than those of the wild-type strain. The germination and nucleation of both ascospores and conidia were delayed in ΔGz SNF1 mutants in comparison with those of the wild-type strain. GzSNF1 expression and localization depended on the developmental stage of the fungus. These results suggest that Gz SNF1 is critical for normal sexual and asexual development in addition to virulence and the utilization of alternative carbon sources.