Draft Genome Sequence of the Plant-Pathogenic Soil Fungus Rhizoctonia solani Anastomosis Group 3 Strain Rhs1AP.

The soil fungus Rhizoctonia solani is a pathogen of agricultural crops. Here, we report on the 51,705,945 bp draft consensus genome sequence of R. solani strain Rhs1AP.

Comparative analysis of putative pathogenesis-related gene expression in two Rhizoctonia solani pathosystems.

Rhizoctonia solani, teleomorph Thanatephorus cucumeris, is a polyphagous necrotrophic plant pathogen of the Basidiomycete order that is split into 14 different anastomosis groups (AGs) based on hyphal interactions and host range. In this investigation, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) techniques were used to determine potential pathogenicity factors of R. solani in the AG1-IA/rice and AG3/potato pathosystems.

Detection of double-stranded RNA elements in the plant pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani.

Many species of fungi have been shown to harbor double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) elements. A single fungal isolate of Rhizoctonia solani may have as many as five different dsRNA elements within them. The presence of specific dsRNA elements influence pathogenicity in host plants.

Phylogenetic relatedness of the M2 double-stranded RNA in Rhizoctonia fungi.

Isolates from closely related fungi in the Rhizoctonia species complex were examined for the occurrence of the M2 double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) by amplifying a conserved 1000 nucleotide region of the dsRNA with reverse transcription PCR. The M2 dsRNA was detected in representative isolates belonging to three anastomosis groups (AG) of R. solani (AG-1-IA, AG-4 and AG-6; teleomorph = Thanatephorus) and four AGs of binucleate Rhizoctonia (AG-A, AG-F, AG-R and AG-U; teleomorph = Ceratobasidium).

Characterization of the arom gene in Rhizoctonia solani, and transcription patterns under stable and induced hypovirulence conditions.

The quinate pathway is induced by quinate in the wild-type virulent Rhizoctonia solani isolate Rhs 1AP but is constitutive in the hypovirulent, M2 dsRNA-containing isolate Rhs 1A1. Constitutive expression of the quinate pathway results in downregulation of the shikimate pathway, which includes the pentafunctional arom gene in Rhs 1A1. The arom gene has 5,323 bp including five introns as opposed to a single intron found in arom in ascomycetes.

Quinic acid induces hypovirulence and expression of a hypovirulence-associated double-stranded RNA in Rhizoctonia solani.

A double-stranded (ds)RNA, designated as M2, is associated with hypovirulence, conversion of the quinic acid pathway from inducible to constitutive and downregulation of the shikimic acid pathway in the Rhizoctonia solani culture Rhs 1A1. In this study, we report that in the virulent, M2-lacking isolate Rhs 1AP, which is isogenic to Rhs 1A1, quinic acid reduces virulence dramatically and induces synthesis of an M2-encoded polypeptide and its respective mRNA. The full-length sense strand of M2 is detected in untreated Rhs 1AP only after a second 30-cycle amplification, using nested primers.

Expression of a hypovirulence-causing double-stranded RNA is associated with up-regulation of quinic acid pathway and down-regulation of shikimic acid pathway in Rhizoctonia solani.

We reported previously that a 3.6-kb double-stranded RNA, designated as M2, is associated with hypovirulence in the Rhizoctonia solani isolate Rhs 1A1 and proposed that the M2-encoded putative polypeptide A (pA) might interfere with the regulation of the quinate and shikimate pathways. In this study, Western blot analysis showed that a protein band of the predicted size (83 kDa) binds antibodies specific to a pA epitope and is detectable in M2-containing but not in M2-lacking cultures.