The Notorious Soilborne Pathogenic Fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum: An Update on Genes Studied with Mutant Analysis

Author: mycolabadmin
2019-12-27
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Summary

This research reviews our current understanding of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a devastating fungal plant pathogen that causes billions in crop losses worldwide. The study examines how different genes control the fungus’s growth, development, and ability to cause disease in plants. Impacts on everyday life: • Helps explain why certain crops develop rotting diseases that reduce food production and increase costs • Provides insights that could lead to better disease-resistant crop varieties • Advances our understanding of how to protect important food crops like canola, soybeans, and sunflowers • Could lead to more environmentally friendly methods of controlling plant diseases • May help reduce food waste and economic losses in agriculture

Background

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is one of the most damaging soilborne fungal pathogens affecting hundreds of plant hosts, including many economically important crops. It belongs to the family Sclerotiniaceae of the class Leotiomycetes and has an extremely broad host range consisting of more than 600 plant species. The pathogen causes significant economic losses globally, with annual losses exceeding $200 million in the United States alone.

Objective

This review aims to summarize key molecular findings on the unique biology and pathogenesis process of S. sclerotiorum, focusing specifically on genes that have been studied in depth using mutant analysis. The goal is to build a better current understanding of this under-studied notorious soilborne pathogenic fungus by analyzing genes revealed to be critical players in basic biological processes including mycelial growth, appressorium establishment, sclerotial formation, apothecial and ascospore development, and virulence.

Results

The review identified less than 60 genes out of almost 15,000 encoded in the S. sclerotiorum genome that have been studied using mutant analysis. The analyzed genes revealed critical roles in mycelial growth, sclerotial formation, apothecial development, and virulence. Many genes showed pleiotropic effects across multiple biological processes. Key pathways involving oxalic acid production, reactive oxygen species, cell wall degrading enzymes, and effector proteins were found to be important for pathogenicity.

Conclusion

While significant progress has been made in understanding S. sclerotiorum biology through mutant analysis, the pathogen remains largely under-studied with many gaps in knowledge about signaling pathways and biological processes. Future work requires more robust methods like genome-wide CRISPR and development of better cell biology and biochemical tools. Increased collaboration between molecular pathologists and breeders is needed to address host resistance challenges.

Published in:Pathogens,
Study Type:Review,
Source: 10.3390/pathogens9010027