FgHtf1 Regulates Global Gene Expression towards Aerial Mycelium and Conidiophore Formation in the Cereal Fungal Pathogen Fusarium graminearum
Gaili Fan, Huawei Zheng, Kai Zhang, Veena Devi Ganeshan, Stephen O. Opiyo, Dan Liu, Mingyang Li, Guangpu Li, Thomas K. Mitchell, Yingzi Yun, Zonghua Wang, Guodong Lu
Abstract
The homeobox gene family of transcription factors is known to be involved in the development and conidiation of filamentous fungi. However, the regulatory mechanisms and downstream targets of homeobox genes remain unclear. FgHtf1 is a homeobox transcription factor that is required for phialide development and conidiogenesis in the plant pathogen F. graminearum . In this study, we identified FgHtf1-controlled target genes and binding motifs. We found that, besides autoregulation, FgHtf1 also controls global gene expression and promotes conidiation in F. graminearum by activation of genes necessary for aerial growth, FgCON7 , and other conidiation-related genes.