Table 2. DEGs required for sexual development in F. graminearum.
| Cellular event a | Perithecium development a | Protein | Proposed function | Phenotype * by gene deletion b | Expression category | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mating | ||||||
| FGSG_02655 | GzPRE2 | pheromone receptor | NC or fewer P | U in OM2 | ||
| Cell aggregation | FGSG_08890 | MAT1-1-3 | smaller P, no AS/AP | DDD ** | ||
| FGSG_08891 | MAT1-1-2 | smaller P, no AS/AP | DDD ** | |||
| FGSG_08892 | MAT1-1-1 | smaller P, no AS/AP | DDD ** | |||
| FGSG_08893 | MAT1-2-1 | smaller P, no AS/AP | DDD ** | |||
| Ascogonium (perithecium initials) formation | ||||||
| FGSG_00404 | TF | Regulation | no P in Z39, but NC in Z43 | D in OM | ||
| Cell fusion | FGSG_04480 | TF | Regulation | no P | DDD | |
| FGSG_05239 | G protein coupled receptor | Regulation | no P | DDN | ||
| Cell adhesion | FGSG_13708 | O-methylase | Metabolism | no P | DDD ** | |
| FGSG_03916 | Fibronectin-attachment protein | Cell adhesion | no P | NUN | ||
| FGSG_06039 | Acyl citrate lyase 2 | Metabolism | no P reduced C,V, T | DNN | ||
| FGSG_09896 | Isocitrate lyase 1 | Metabolism | no P, albino aerial mycelia | D in OM2 | ||
| FGSG_10825 | homocysteine transferase | Metabolism | no P, no aerial mycelia, reduced V, T | DDD ** | ||
| Perithecium wall and paraphyses formation | ||||||
| FGSG_01366 | TF | Regulation | smaller P, no AS | DDD | ||
| FGSG_08320 | Cytochrome P450 | Secondary metabolism | smaller P, no AS | DDD | ||
| Polarity | FGSG_11826 | TF | Regulation | smaller P, no AS | DDD ** | |
| FGSG_13162 | Histone promoter control 2 | Chromatin silencing | smaller P, no AS | DDD | ||
| FGSG_10742 | Pheromone-regulated membrane protein | Cellular fusion | delayed PM, smaller P, no AS | DDD | ||
| Programed cell death | FGSG_06228 | TF, RGS | Regulation | smaller P, no AS, fewer C, no V, more T in Z39, but fewer C (~11-fold ↓) only in Z43 | UNN | |
| FGSG_09182 | PKS3 | Perithecial wall pigmentation | albino P | DDD | ||
| FGSG_08795 | PKS7 | Secondary metabolism | smaller P, no AS, abnormal C | DDN | ||
| FGSG_03673 | Zn-carboxypeptidase | Metabolism | fewer P, no AS | DDD ** | ||
| FGSG_05151 | TF | Regulation | fewer P | NND | ||
| FGSG_07578 | 3-dehydroquinate synthetase | Metabolism | fewer P, no AS | DDD | ||
| FGSG_07869 | Short-chain dehydrogenases | Metabolism | fewer P, no AS, | DDD | ||
| Meiosis | FGSG_09019 | TF carrying homeodomain | Regulation | fewer P, VG, T, no V | DNN | |
| Ascus development | ||||||
| FGSG_00348 | Argonaute-like protein | RNA interference | fewer AS/AP | DDD | ||
| Spore formation and perithecium maturation | ||||||
| FGSG_00532 | Vesicle coat complex COPII | Intracellular trafficking & secretion | more P, more P pigmentation, but fewer AS/AP | DDN | ||
| FGSG_07546 | TF, MYT2 | Regulation | larger P, faster growth, moreaerial mycelia, more AP, reduced V | DDN | ||
| FGSG_09834 | Pyruvate decarboxylase | Regulation | no AS, reduced lipidaccumulation in aerial mycelia | D in OM2 | ||
| FGSG_06966 | TF | Regulation | delayed PM in Z39, but larger P in Z43 | DDD ** | ||
| FGSG_06059 | GAL10-UDP-glucose 4-epimerase | Metabolism | fewer P | DDD | ||
| FGSG_01862 | Microtubule associated protein | Cytoskeleton dynamics | delayed PM | DDD ** | ||
| FGSG_11962 | Hypothetical protein | NA | fewer P | DDD | ||
| FGSG_07368 | TF | Regulation | fewer P, ZEA overproduction (~3-fold ↑) | D in OM2 | ||
| FGSG_02572 | Universal stress protein | fewer P, reduced V in Z39, but NC in Z43 | UNN | |||
| Spore firing | ||||||
| FGSG_02052 | Hypothetical protein | NA | faster cirrhi production | DDD | ||
*Refer to S5 Fig for quantitative comparisons between the wild type and gene-deletion strains showing the phenotypic changes in size or number of perithecia.
aRefer to [40].
bThe F. graminearum Z3643 (Z43) strain was a wild-type strain for the gene deletions. The other strain Z3639 (Z39) was specifically indicated when used in gene deletion.
Genes (FGSG_) in bold are specific to sexual development.
AP: ascospore, AS: asci, C: conidiation, H: hyphal growth, NA: not assigned, NC: no change, P: perithecia, PM: perithecia maturation, RGS: Regulator of G-protein signaling, SD:sexual development, T: mycotoxin production, V: virulence, VG: vegetative growth, ZEA: zearalenone.
↑: increased
↓: reduced.
**determined by qPCR