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Carbon Catabolite Repressor UvCreA is Required for Development and Pathogenicity in Ustilaginoidea virens

  1. State Key Laboratory of Rice and Breeding Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou 311400, China
  • Contact: KOU Yanjun; JIANG Nan
  • Supported by:

    This study was supported by the Key Projects of Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China (Grant No. LZ23C130002), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32100161), Zhejiang Science and Technology Major Program on Rice New Variety Breeding, China (Grant No. 2021C02063), key R&D project of China National Rice Research Institute (Grant No. CNRRI-2020-04), the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences under the Agricultural Sciences and Technologies Innovation Program, the Youth innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Grant No. Y2023QC22), and the Joint Open Competitive Project of the Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory and China National Seed Company Limited (Grant Nos. B23YQ1514 and B23CQ15EP).

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Abstract: The rice false smut disease, caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, has emerged as a significant global threat to rice production. The mechanism of carbon catabolite repression plays a crucial role in the efficient utilization of carbon nutrients and enzyme regulation in the presence of complex nutritional conditions. Although significant progress has been made in understanding carbon catabolite repression in fungi such as Aspergillus nidulans and Magnaporthe oryzae, its role in U. virens remains unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we identified UvCreA, a pivotal component of carbon catabolite repression, in U. virens. Our investigation revealed that UvCreA localizes to the nucleus. Deletion of UvCreA resulted in decreased growth and pathogenicity in U. virens. Through RNA-seq analysis, it was found that the knockout of UvCreA led to the up-regulation of 514 genes and down-regulation of 640 genes. Moreover, UvCreA was found to be involved in the transcriptional regulation of pathogenic genes and genes associated with carbon metabolism in U. virens. In summary, our findings indicated that UvCreA is important in fungal development, virulence, and the utilization of carbon sources through transcriptional regulation, thus making it a critical element of carbon catabolite repression.

Key words: Ustilaginoidea virens, virulence, carbon catabolite repression, rice, rice false smut