Impact of the UPR on the virulence of the plant fungal pathogen A. brassicicola

The fungal genus Alternaria contains many destructive plant pathogens, including Alternaria brassicicola, which causes black spot disease on a wide range of Brassicaceae plants and which is routinely used as a model necrotrophic pathogen in studies with Arabidopsis thaliana. During host infection, m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Virulence 2014-02, Vol.5 (2), p.357-364
Main Authors: Guillemette, Thomas, Calmes, Benoit, Simoneau, Philippe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternaria - pathogenicity
Alternaria - physiology
Alternaria brassicicola
Arabidopsis - microbiology
Brassicaceae - microbiology
Fungal Proteins - metabolism
Life Sciences
null mutants
pathogenicity
Plant Diseases - microbiology
Review
seed transmission
unfolded protein response
Virulence
Virulence Factors - metabolism
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Summary:The fungal genus Alternaria contains many destructive plant pathogens, including Alternaria brassicicola, which causes black spot disease on a wide range of Brassicaceae plants and which is routinely used as a model necrotrophic pathogen in studies with Arabidopsis thaliana. During host infection, many fungal proteins that are critical for disease progression are processed in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)/Golgi system and secreted in planta. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is an essential part of ER protein quality control that ensures efficient maturation of secreted and membrane-bound proteins in eukaryotes. This review highlights the importance of the UPR signaling pathway with respect to the ability of A. brassicicola to efficiently accomplish key steps of its pathogenic life cycle. Understanding the pathogenicity mechanisms that fungi uses during infection is crucial for the development of new antifungal therapies. Therefore the UPR pathway has emerged as a promising drug target for plant disease control.
ISSN:2150-5594
2150-5608
DOI:10.4161/viru.26772