Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

The rice leaf blast pathogen undergoes developmental processes typical of root-infecting fungi

Nature volume 431, pages 582–586 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Pathogens have evolved different strategies to overcome the various barriers that they encounter during infection of their hosts1. The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea causes one of the most damaging diseases of cultivated rice and has emerged as a paradigm system for investigation of foliar pathogenicity. This fungus undergoes a series of well-defined developmental steps during leaf infection, including the formation of elaborate penetration structures (appressoria). This process has been studied in great detail2, and over thirty M. grisea genes that condition leaf infection have been identified3. Here we show a new facet of the M. grisea life cycle: this fungus can undergo a different (and previously uncharacterized) set of programmed developmental events that are typical of root-infecting pathogens. We also show that root colonization can lead to systemic invasion and the development of classical disease symptoms on the aerial parts of the plant. Gene-for-gene type specific disease resistance that is effective against rice blast in leaves also operates in roots. These findings have significant implications for fungal development, epidemiology, plant breeding and disease control.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: M. grisea undergoes developmental processes typical of root-infecting fungi.
Figure 2: Infection of roots by wild type and mutant M. grisea strains.
Figure 3: Colonization of rice roots by M. grisea is dependent on MgFOW1.
Figure 4: M. grisea can spread systemically from the roots to the aerial tissues and cause typical blast symptoms.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mendgen, K., Hahn, M. & Deising, H. Morphogenesis and mechanisms of penetration by plant pathogenic fungi. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 34, 367–386 (1996)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Tucker, S. L. & Talbot, N. J. Surface attachment and pre-penetration stage development by plant pathogenic fungi. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 39, 385–418 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Talbot, N. J. On the trail of a cereal killer: exploring the biology of Magnaporthe grisea. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 57, 177–202 (2003)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. International Rice Blast Genome Consortium. RICEBLAST.ORG, http://www.riceblast.org/ (2003).

  5. Cannon, P. F. The newly recognized family Magnaporthaceae and its interrelationships. Systema Ascomycetum 13, 25–42 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hornby, D. (ed.) Biology and Control of Take-all (Academic Press Inc., London, 1981)

  7. Hornby, D. (ed.) Take-all Disease of Cereals: a Regional Perspective (CAB International, Wallingford, 1998)

  8. Landschoot, P. J. & Jackson, N. Magnaporthe poae sp. nov., a hyphopodiate fungus with a Phialophora anamorph from grass roots in the United States. Mycol. Res. 93, 59–62 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Scott, D. B. & Deacon, J. W. Magnaporthe rhizophila sp. nov, a dark mycelial fungus with a Phialophora conidial state, from cereal roots in South-Africa. Trans. British Mycol. Soc. 81, 77–81 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Dufresne, M. & Osbourn, A. E. Definition of tissue-specific and general requirements for plant infection in a phytopathogenic fungus. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 14, 300–307 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. De Jong, J. C., McCormack, B. J., Smirnoff, N. & Talbot, N. J. Glycerol generates turgor in rice blast. Nature 389, 244–245 (1997)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Howard, R. J. & Valent, B. Breaking and entering: host penetration by the fungal rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe grisea. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 50, 491–512 (1996)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Rodrigues, F. A., Benhamou, N., Datnoff, L. E., Jones, J. B. & Belanger, R. R. Ultrastructural and cytochemical aspects of silicon-mediated rice blast resistance. Phytopathology 93, 535–546 (2003)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Talbot, N. J., Ebbole, D. J. & Hamer, J. E. Identification and characterization of MPG1, a gene involved in pathogenicity from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. Plant Cell 5, 1575–1590 (1993)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Chumley, F. G. & Valent, B. Genetic analysis of melanin deficient, nonpathogenic mutants of Magnaporthe grisea. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 3, 135–143 (1990)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Valent, B., Farrall, L. & Chumley, F. Magnaporthe grisea genes for pathogenicity and virulence identified through a series of backcrosses. Genetics 127, 87–101 (1991)

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Mitchell, T. K. & Dean, R. A. The cAMP-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit is required for appressorium formation and pathogenesis by the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe grisea. Plant Cell 7, 1869–1878 (1995)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Xu, J. R., Urban, M., Sweigard, J. A. & Hamer, J. E. The CPKA gene of Magnaporthe grisea is essential for appressorial penetration. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 10, 187–194 (1997)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Inoue, I., Namiki, F. & Tsuge, T. Plant colonization by the vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum requires FOW1, a gene encoding a mitochondrial protein. Plant Cell 14, 1869–1883 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Farman, M. L. et al. Analysis of the Structure of the AVR1–CO39 avirulence locus in virulent rice-infecting isolates of Magnaporthe grisea. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 15, 6–16 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Tian, D., Traw, M. B., Chen, J. Q., Kreitman, M. & Bergelson, J. Fitness costs of R-gene-mediated resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature 423, 74–76 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Ou, S. H. Rice Diseases (Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew, Surrey, UK, 1985)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Sosnowski, M., Ramsey, M., Murray, G., Scott, E. & Wilmshurst, C. Symptoms of blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) on the roots of canola in Australia. Plant Pathol. 50, 808 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Vereijssen, J., Schneider, H. J. M. & Termorshuizen, A. J. Possible root infection of Cercospora beticola in sugar beet. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 110, 103–106 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F. & Maniatis, T. Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, 1989)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Lorang, J. M. et al. Green fluorescent protein is lighting up fungal biology. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67, 1987–1994 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Rho, H. S., Kang, S. & Lee, Y. H. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of the plant pathogenic fungus, Magnaporthe grisea. Mol. Cells 12, 407–411 (2001)

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Sweigard, J. A., Chumley, F., Carroll, A., Farrall, L. & Valent, B. A series of vectors for fungal transformation. Fungal Genet. Newslett. 44, 52–53 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Resendes, C. M., Geil, R. D. & Guinel, F. C. Mycorrhyzal development in a low nodulating pea mutant. New Phytol. 150, 563–572 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Gangopadhyay, S. & Row, K. V. K. Perennation of Pyricularia oryzae briosi et cav. in sclerotial state. Int. J. Trop. Plant Dis. 4, 187–192 (1986)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the M. grisea community for providing fungal strains; L. Ciuffetti for the pCT74 reporter vector, and J. Deacon and R. Gutteridge for providing the images for Fig. 1l and 1m, respectively. A.S. has been supported by a Marie Curie fellowship from the European Community and by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Center, Colney Lane, NR4 7UH, Norwich, UK

    Ane Sesma & Anne E. Osbourn

Authors
  1. Ane Sesma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anne E. Osbourn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne E. Osbourn.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sesma, A., Osbourn, A. The rice leaf blast pathogen undergoes developmental processes typical of root-infecting fungi. Nature 431, 582–586 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02880

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02880

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing