Identification and characterization of 19 predicted Myb-family DNA binding proteins in Magnaporthe oryzae concerning growth, conidiation, and pathogenicity

Abstract

AbstractGenes encoding for proteins containing the DNA binding Myb domain have been suggested to be important in regulating development and stress response in eukaryotes, including fungi. Magnaporthe oryzae (teleomorph Pyricularia oryzae) is considered the most destructive pathogen of rice. We screen the M. oryzae genome for all genes encoding proteins containing Myb domains since these genes could be essential during pathogenesis. We found 19 genes Myb1-19. Only a few have previously been investigated, and only one has proven to be involved in pathogenesis. We tried to delete the other 18 genes and succeeded with all except 6, five of which could be essential. RT-qPCR showed that all 19 genes are expressed during pathogenesis, although at different levels and with different expression profiles. To our surprise, only deletions of the genes encoding proteins MoMyb2, MoMyb13, and MoMyb15 showed growth, conidiation, and infection phenotypes, indicating that they are essential on their own during infection. This lack of phenotypes for the other mutants surprised us, and we extended the analysis to look for expression co-regulation and found 5 co-regulated groups of predicted proteins with Myb-domains. We point to likely compensatory regulations of the other Myb-family genes hiding the effect of many deletions. Further studies of the Myb-family genes are thus of interest since revealing the functions of these genes with a possible effect on pathogenicity since these could be targets for future measures to control M. oryzae in rice.