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Autophagy-Related Proteins (ATGs) Are Differentially Required for Development and Virulence of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Weerasinghe, Thilini; Li, Josh; Chen, Xuanye; Gao, Jiayang; Tian, Lei; Xu, Yan; Gong, Yihan; Huang, Weijie; Zhang, Yuelin; Jiang, Liwen; Li, Xin

Abstract

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a devastating fungal pathogen that can colonize numerous crops. Despite its economic importance, the regulation of its development and pathogenicity remains poorly understood. From a forward genetic screen in S. sclerotiorum, six UV mutants were identified with loss-of-function mutations in SsATG1, SsATG2, SsATG4, SsATG5, SsATG9, and SsATG26. Functional validation through gene knockouts revealed that each ATG is essential for sclerotia formation, although the morphology of appressoria was not significantly altered in the mutants. Different levels of virulence attenuation were observed among these mutants. Autophagy, monitored using GFP-ATG8, showed dynamic activities during sclerotia development. These findings suggest that macroautophagy and pexophagy contribute to sclerotia maturation and virulence processes. Future work will reveal how autophagy controls target organelle or protein turnover to regulate these processes.

Item Metadata

Title
Autophagy-Related Proteins (ATGs) Are Differentially Required for Development and Virulence of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
Creator
Weerasinghe, Thilini; Li, Josh; Chen, Xuanye; Gao, Jiayang; Tian, Lei; Xu, Yan; Gong, Yihan; Huang, Weijie; Zhang, Yuelin; Jiang, Liwen; Li, Xin
Contributor
Michael Smith Laboratories
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2025-05-19
Description
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a devastating fungal pathogen that can colonize numerous crops. Despite its economic importance, the regulation of its development and pathogenicity remains poorly understood. From a forward genetic screen in S. sclerotiorum, six UV mutants were identified with loss-of-function mutations in SsATG1, SsATG2, SsATG4, SsATG5, SsATG9, and SsATG26. Functional validation through gene knockouts revealed that each ATG is essential for sclerotia formation, although the morphology of appressoria was not significantly altered in the mutants. Different levels of virulence attenuation were observed among these mutants. Autophagy, monitored using GFP-ATG8, showed dynamic activities during sclerotia development. These findings suggest that macroautophagy and pexophagy contribute to sclerotia maturation and virulence processes. Future work will reveal how autophagy controls target organelle or protein turnover to regulate these processes.
Subject
fungal pathogens; Sclerotinia sclerotiorum; ATG; autophagy; Pexophage; futant screen; next-generation sequencing; forward genetic analysis; UV mutagenesis
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2025-06-02
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0449012
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/91253
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Botany, Department of
Citation
Journal of Fungi 11 (5): 391 (2025)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/jof11050391
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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CC BY 4.0