Publications by authors named "Xue-ming Zhu"

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  • * Researchers identified MoPyr4, a DHOase homolog in M. oryzae, and found that deleting this gene impaired fungal growth, virulence, and autophagy processes.
  • * MoPyr4 is crucial for UMP biosynthesis and affects multiple signaling pathways related to stress response and pathogenicity, interacting with other proteins involved in autophagy and MAPK signaling pathways.
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  • - Csn5 is part of the COP9 signalosome and is vital for controlling how pathogenic fungi, like Magnaporthe oryzae, manage autophagy and their ability to cause infection.
  • - Researchers found that knocking out Csn5 leads to increased autophagy and a decrease in fungal pathogenicity due to overubiquitination and degradation of a key protein, MoTor, involved in the autophagy process.
  • - The study also identified that MoCsn5 interacts with MoAtg6, and through a specific type of ubiquitination (K48), it regulates the levels of MoAtg6, affecting autophagic activity and thus impacting the overall growth and pathogenicity of the fungus
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Septins play a key regulatory role in cell division, cytokinesis, and cell polar growth of the rice blast fungus (). We found that the organization of the septin ring, which is essential for appressorium-mediated infection in , requires long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs), which act as mediators of septin organization at membrane interfaces. However, it is unclear how septin ring formation and LCFAs regulate the pathogenicity of the rice blast fungus.

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  • The cell cycle is crucial for differentiation in plant pathogenic fungi, particularly in the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, where gene MoSwe1 is identified as a key regulator.
  • MoSwe1 influences cell wall integrity (CWI) signaling by targeting the MAP kinase MoMps1, and mutations in MoSwe1 lead to abnormal CWI functions and cell cycle arrest.
  • The study also indicates that MoSwe1 facilitates autophagy through interactions with core autophagy proteins, impacting mutant fungal morphology and functions critical for pathogen development and virulence.
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  • Rice blast disease negatively impacts crop productivity and is caused by specific pathogens that produce small secreted proteins called effectors.
  • These effectors interact with host cell receptors to trigger signaling pathways that affect processes like cell growth and death.
  • The review summarizes recent findings on the identification and function of effectors, while also outlining future research challenges and directions.
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  • * In plants, they are vital for cell development and stress responses, while in pathogenic fungi, they are important for initiating infections that can impact humans.
  • * The review highlights recent research on the sphingolipid pathways in plant pathogenic fungi, noting both their unique and shared features with other organisms, and discusses the development of inhibitors to control fungal infections in crops.
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  • * The study identifies Trs85, a crucial protein in the fungus, that regulates infection by influencing autophagy via the Ypt1 protein, highlighting its potential as a new target for fungicide development.
  • * A promising compound, SP-141, has been discovered to inhibit the Trs85-Ypt1 interaction and effectively reduce fungal infection, offering a new avenue for controlling rice blast and addressing fungicide resistance.
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Calcineurin, a key regulator of the calcium signaling pathway, is involved in calcium signal transduction and calcium ion homeostasis. is a devastating filamentous phytopathogenic fungus in rice, yet little is known about the function of the calcium signaling system. Here, we identified a novel calcineurin regulatory-subunit-binding protein, MoCbp7, which is highly conserved in filamentous fungi and was found to localize in the cytoplasm.

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  • The text discusses a filamentous fungus that causes rice blast, a major threat to food safety, highlighting the importance of fatty acid metabolism in eukaryotes.
  • Researchers identified a protein called MoAcb1, related to acyl-CoA binding, and discovered that disrupting it causes delays in hyphal growth, conidial production, and appressorium development.
  • The study concludes that MoAcb1 is crucial for processes like conidia germination, appressorium formation, pathogenicity, and autophagy in the fungus.
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  • Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) can treat various blood-related diseases but often leads to kidney injuries with diverse types of damage noted in pediatric patients.
  • A study analyzed kidney biopsies from 25 children post-transplant, revealing significant issues like proteinuria, low kidney function, and several patients requiring kidney replacement therapy.
  • The most common kidney pathologies identified included mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, with a notable follow-up revealing some patients suffering severe complications and death from related illnesses.
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The diversity and community assembly mechanisms of eukaryotic plankton in coastal waters is so far not clear. In this study, we selected the coastal waters of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which is a highly developed region in China, as the research area. By use of high-throughput sequencing technologies, the diversity and community assembly mechanisms of eukaryotic marine plankton were studied in which a total of 7,295 OTUs were obtained, and 2,307 species were annotated by doing environmental DNA survey of 17 sites consist of surface and bottom layer.

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  • * Researchers discovered that MoVast2 interacts with MoVast1 and MoAtg8, playing a vital role in autophagy and maintaining lipid balance, specifically through its effects on sterols and sphingolipids.
  • * The study found that when MoVast2 is deleted, it disrupts proper autophagy and alters lipid metabolism, highlighting its regulatory role alongside MoVast1 and its influence on the TOR signaling pathway in
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The COP9 signalosome (CSN) is a highly conserved protein complex in eukaryotes, affecting various development and signaling processes. To date, the biological functions of the COP9 signalosome and its subunits have not been determined in Magnaporthe oryzae. In this study, we characterized the CSN in M.

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Autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved cellular degradation pathway in eukaryotes, is hierarchically regulated by autophagy-related genes (Atgs). The Atg1/ULK1 complex is the most upstream factor involved in autophagy initiation. Here,we summarize the recent studies on the structure and molecular mechanism of the Atg1/ULK1 complex in autophagy initiation, with a special focus on upstream regulation and downstream effectors of Atg1/ULK1.

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During eukaryotic evolution, the TOR-AGC kinase signaling module is involved in the coordinated regulation of cell growth and survival. However, the AGC kinases in plant-pathogenic fungi remain poorly understood. In this study, we have identified 20 members of the AGC family of protein kinases.

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Peroxisomes have been proved playing roles in infection of several plant pathogens. Although the contribution of a portion of peroxins in pathogenicity was demonstrated, most of them are undocumented in fungi, especially, . The homologs of Pex8, Pex10, and Pex12 in were functionally characterized in this work using gene disruption strategies.

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Purine nucleotides are indispensable compounds for many organisms and participate in basic vital activities such as heredity, development, and growth. Blocking of purine nucleotide biosynthesis may inhibit proliferation and development and is commonly used in cancer therapy. However, the function of the purine nucleotide biosynthesis pathway in the pathogenic fungus is not clear.

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is an important pathogen that causes a devastating disease in rice. It has been reported that the dual-specificity LAMMER kinase is conserved from yeast to animal species and has a variety of functions. However, the functions of the LAMMER kinase have not been reported in .

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Mitophagy, as one of the most important cellular processes to ensure quality control of mitochondria, aims at transporting damaged, aging, dysfunctional or excess mitochondria to vacuoles (plants and fungi) or lysosomes (mammals) for degradation and recycling. The normal functioning of mitophagy is critical for cellular homeostasis from yeasts to humans. Although the role of mitophagy has been well studied in mammalian cells and in certain model organisms, especially the budding yeast , our understanding of its significance in other fungi, particularly in pathogenic filamentous fungi, is still at the preliminary stage.

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Plant diseases caused by fungi are one of the major threats to global food security and understanding the interactions between fungi and plants is of great significance for plant disease control. The interaction between pathogenic fungi and plants is a complex process. From the perspective of pathogenic fungi, pathogenic fungi are involved in the regulation of pathogenicity by surface signal recognition proteins, MAPK signaling pathways, transcription factors, and pathogenic factors in the process of infecting plants.

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The development and pathogenicity of the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, the causal agent of destructive rice blast disease, require it to perceive external environmental signals. Opy2, an overproduction-induced pheromone-resistant protein 2, is a crucial protein for sensing external signals in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, the biological functions of the homologue of Opy2 in M.

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is the causal agent of rice blast outbreaks. L-ascorbic acid (ASC) is a famous antioxidant found in nature. However, while ASC is rare or absent in fungi, a five-carbon analog, D-erythroascorbic acid (EASC), seems to appear to be a substitute for ASC.

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, a fungal pathogen that causes rice blast, which is the most destructive disease of rice worldwide, has the potential to perform both asexual and sexual reproduction. loci, consisting of genes, were deemed to determine the mating types of strains. However, investigation was rarely performed on the development and molecular mechanisms of the sexual reproduction of the fungus.

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Magnaporthe oryzae is an important plant pathogen that causes rice blast. Hse1 and Vps27 are components of ESCRT-0 involved in the multivesicular body (MVB) sorting pathway and biogenesis. To date, the biological functions of ESCRT-0 in M.

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Dark septate endophytes (DSEs) are the typical representatives of root endophytic fungi in heavy metal (HM)-contaminated environments. However, little is known about their roles in the HMs tolerance of hosts and the underlying mechanism. Here, we investigated the biological roles and molecular mechanisms of a DSE strain Falciphora oryzae in alleviating cadmium (Cd) toxicities in rice.

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