Open Access
Effector-triggered susceptibility by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
(Wiley, 2024) Oliveira-Garcia, Ely; Yan, Xia; Osés Ruiz, Miriam; Paula, Samuel de; Talbot, Nicholas J.; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB
Rice blast, the most destructive disease of cultivated rice world-wide, is caused by the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. To cause disease in plants, M. oryzae secretes a diverse range of effector proteins to suppress plant defense responses, modulate cellular processes, and support pathogen growth. Some effectors can be secreted by appressoria even before host penetration, while others accumulate in the apoplast, or enter living plant cells where they target specific plant subcellular compartments. During plant infection, the blast fungus induces the formation of a specialized plant structure known as the biotrophic interfacial complex (BIC), which appears to be crucial for effector delivery into plant cells. Here, we review recent advances in the cell biology of M. oryzae–host interactions and show how new breakthroughs in disease control have stemmed from an increased understanding of effector proteins of M. oryzae are deployed and delivered into plant cells to enable pathogen invasion and host susceptibility.
Open Access
The transcriptional landscape of plant infection by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae reveals distinct families of temporally co-regulated and structurally conserved effectors
(Oxford University Press, 2023) Yan, Xia; Tang, Bozeng; Ryder, Lauren S.; MacLean, Dan; Were, Vincent M.; Eseola, Alice Bisola; Cruz-Mireles, Neftaly; Ma, Weibin; Foster, Andrew J.; Osés Ruiz, Miriam; Talbot, Nicholas J.; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura
The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae causes a devastating disease that threatens global rice (Oryza sativa) production. Despite intense study, the biology of plant tissue invasion during blast disease remains poorly understood. Here we report a high-resolution transcriptional profiling study of the entire plant-associated development of the blast fungus. Our analysis revealed major temporal changes in fungal gene expression during plant infection. Pathogen gene expression could be classified into 10 modules of temporally co-expressed genes, providing evidence for the induction of pronounced shifts in primary and secondary metabolism, cell signaling, and transcriptional regulation. A set of 863 genes encoding secreted proteins are differentially expressed at specific stages of infection, and 546 genes named MEP (Magnaporthe effector protein) genes were predicted to encode effectors. Computational prediction of structurally related MEPs, including the MAX effector family, revealed their temporal co-regulation in the same co-expression modules. We characterized 32 MEP genes and demonstrate that Mep effectors are predominantly targeted to the cytoplasm of rice cells via the biotrophic interfacial complex and use a common unconventional secretory pathway. Taken together, our study reveals major changes in gene expression associated with blast disease and identifies a diverse repertoire of effectors critical for successful infection.
Restricted
Plant genes and processes required for the necrotic response to BcNEP proteins
(2009) Osés Ruiz, Miriam; Murillo Martínez, Jesús; Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos; Nekazaritza Ingeniarien Goi Mailako Eskola Teknikoa; Producción Agraria; Nekazaritza Ekoizpena
Open Access
Colors in the dark
(American Society of Plant Physiologists, 2022) Osés Ruiz, Miriam; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB
Plants have the ability to regulate their growth and development according to available light (Li et al., 2012). Light perception occurs through photoreceptors, such as phytochromes, cryptochromes, and phototropins, that translate the signal inside cells where arrays of transcription factors repress or activate genes required for cellular processes (Kong and Okajima, 2016; Mawphlang and Kharshiing, 2017). One of these processes is the regulation of pigment synthesis, including chlorophylls and carotenoids.
Open Access
The phosphorylation landscape of infection-related development by the rice blast fungus
(Elsevier, 2024-04-09) Cruz-Mireles, Neftaly; Osés Ruiz, Miriam; Derbyshire, Paul; Jégousse, Clara; Ryder, Lauren S.; Bautista, Mark Jave A.; Eseola, Alice Bisola; Sklenar, Jan; Tang, Bozeng; Yan, Xia; Ma, Weibin; Findlay, Kim C.; Were, Vincent M.; MacLean, Dan; Talbot, Nicholas J.; Menke, Frank L.H.; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB
Many of the world's most devastating crop diseases are caused by fungal pathogens that elaborate specialized infection structures to invade plant tissue. Here, we present a quantitative mass -spectrometry -based phosphoproteomic analysis of infection -related development by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae , which threatens global food security. We mapped 8,005 phosphosites on 2,062 fungal proteins following germination on a hydrophobic surface, revealing major re -wiring of phosphorylation-based signaling cascades during appressorium development. Comparing phosphosite conservation across 41 fungal species reveals phosphorylation signatures specifically associated with biotrophic and hemibiotrophic fungal infection. We then used parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) to identify phosphoproteins regulated by the fungal Pmk1 MAPK that controls plant infection by M. oryzae . We define 32 substrates of Pmk1 and show that Pmk1dependent phosphorylation of regulator Vts1 is required for rice blast disease. Defining the phosphorylation landscape of infection therefore identifies potential therapeutic interventions for the control of plant diseases.