The bZIP Transcription Factor MoAP1 Mediates the Oxidative Stress Response and Is Critical for Pathogenicity of the Rice Blast Fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
Figure 5
Pathogenicity of the Moap1 mutant strain.
(A) The Moap1 deletion mutants lost pathogenicity on rice leaves. 4 ml of conidial suspension (1×105 conidia/ml) for each strain was sprayed on 4-week-old rice seedlings (O. sativa cv CO-39) and 60 healthy rice plants were used in each independent experiment. Diseased leaves were harvested 7 days after inoculation. (B) Onion epidermis cell penetration assay of the Moap1 mutant. The assay was performed by inoculating 30 µl conidia suspension obtained from Guy11, Moap1-9 and the complemented strain. Light microscopic image examination was performed and recorded. Arrows indicate appressoria or invasive hyphae inside cells. (Scale bars = 20 µm). (C) Rice leaf sheath penetration assay indicating severely confined growth of the Moap1 mutant hyphae at 48 hpi. (Scale bars = 20 µm). (D) DAB staining indicated the ROS accumulation at the infection site on the rice leaf sheath by the Moap1 mutant at 48 hpi but not by the wild type and complemented strains. (Scale bars = 20 µm).