Southern corn leaf blight (SCLB) caused by Cochliobolus heterostrophus is a destructive disease that threatens global maize (Zea mays) production. Despite many studies being conducted, very little is known about molecular processes employed by the pathogen during infection. There is a need to understand the fungal arms strategy and identify novel functional genes as targets for fungicide development. Transcriptome analysis based on RNA sequencing was carried out across conidia germination and host infection by C. heterostrophus. The present study revealed major changes in C. heterostrophus gene expression during host infection. Several differentially expressed genes (DEGs) induced during C. heterostrophus infection could be involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, peroxisome, energy metabolism, amino acid degradation and oxidative phosphorylation. In addition, histone acetyltransferase, secreted proteins, peroxisomal proteins, NADPH oxidase and transcription factors were selected for further functional validation. Here, we demonstrated that histone acetyltransferases (Hat2 and Rtt109), secreted proteins (Cel61A and Mep1), peroxisomal proteins (Pex11A and Pex14), NADPH oxidases (NoxA, NoxD and NoxR) and transcription factors (Crz1 and MtfA) play essential roles in C. heterostrophus conidiation, stress adaption and virulence. Taken together, our study revealed major changes in gene expression associated with C. heterostrophus infection and identified a diverse repertoire of genes critical for successful infection.

中文翻译：

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玉米病原体异旋旋孢菌的感染特异性转录模式揭示了参与无性发育和毒力的基因

由Cochliobolus 异旋菌引起的南方玉米叶枯病 (SCLB)是一种威胁全球玉米 ( Zea mays ) 生产的破坏性病害。尽管正在进行许多研究，但人们对病原体在感染过程中所采用的分子过程知之甚少。需要了解真菌武器策略并确定新的功能基因作为杀菌剂开发的目标。基于 RNA 测序的转录组分析在分生孢子萌发和异旋梭菌感染宿主过程中进行。本研究揭示了宿主感染期间异旋梭菌基因表达的重大变化。异旋梭菌感染过程中诱导的几个差异表达基因（DEG）可能参与次级代谢产物、过氧化物酶体、能量代谢、氨基酸降解和氧化磷酸化的生物合成。此外，还选择组蛋白乙酰转移酶、分泌蛋白、过氧化物酶体蛋白、NADPH氧化酶和转录因子进行进一步的功能验证。在此，我们证明组蛋白乙酰转移酶（Hat2 和 Rtt109）、分泌蛋白（Cel61A 和 Mep1）、过氧化物酶体蛋白（Pex11A 和 Pex14）、NADPH 氧化酶（NoxA、NoxD 和 NoxR）和转录因子（Crz1 和 MtfA）在C.异旋孢子形成、胁迫适应和毒力。总而言之，我们的研究揭示了与异旋梭菌感染相关的基因表达的重大变化，并确定了对成功感染至关重要的多种基因。