Uncovering the structural stability of effectors: a secretome-wide analysis.

Rice blast, caused by the ascomycete fungus is a deadly disease and a major threat to global food security. The pathogen secretes small proteinaceous effectors, virulence factors, inside the host to manipulate and perturb the host immune system, allowing the pathogen to colonize and establish a successful infection. While the molecular functions of several effectors are characterized, very little is known about the structural stability of these effectors.

The secret password: Cell death-inducing proteins in filamentous phytopathogens - As versatile tools to develop disease-resistant crops.

Cell death-inducing proteins (CDIPs) are some of the secreted effector proteins manifested by filamentous oomycetes and fungal pathogens to invade the plant tissue and facilitate infection. Along with their involvement in different developmental processes and virulence, CDIPs play a crucial role in plant-pathogen interactions. As the name implies, CDIPs cause necrosis and trigger localised cell death in the infected host tissues by the accumulation of higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (HO), oxidative burst, accumulation of nitric oxide (NO), and electrolyte leakage.

characterization, molecular docking, and dynamic simulation of a novel fungal cell-death suppressing effector, MoRlpA as potential cathepsin B-like cysteine protease inhibitor during rice blast infection.

The blast fungus is one of the most notorious pathogens affecting rice production worldwide. The cereal killer employs a special class of small secreted proteins called effectors to manipulate and perturb the host metabolism. In turn, the host plants trigger effector-triggered immunity (ETI) via localized cell death and hypersensitive response (HR).

Comparative analysis of secondary metabolite gene clusters in different strains of Magnaporthe oryzae.

Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae continues to be a major constraint in rice production worldwide. Rice is one of the staple crops in India and rice blast causes huge economic losses. Interestingly, the Indian subcontinent is the centre for origin and diversity of rice as well as the Magnaporthe species complex.

WISH, a novel CFEM GPCR is indispensable for surface sensing, asexual and pathogenic differentiation in rice blast fungus.

We have selected and characterized a unique Conserved Fungal-specific Extra-cellular Membrane-spanning (CFEM) domain containing PTH11 like G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), which is responsible for Water wettability, Infection, Surface sensing and Hyper-conidiation (WISH). The pathogenicity gene WISH is predicted to encode a novel seven transmembrane protein in the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, one of the deadliest pathogens of rice. We generated knockout mutants through a homologous recombination-based method to understand the function of the gene.