FIG 2 .

Pyruvate scavenges heat-induced ROS and protects fungal cells. (A) ROS levels in normal heat-treated hyphae (NH) and in hyphae with a higher (HH) or a lower (LH) pyruvate concentration than NH. ***, significant differences among NH, HH, and LH. *, ROS level in NH not different from that in LH but significantly higher than that in HH. RFU, relative fluorescence units. (B) Carbonylation level of total proteins in NH, LH, and HH (top) and protein level of β-tubulin (bottom). Presented are typical pictures representative of five repeats. Values indicate band intensities of total protein relative to β-tubulin; the value at 26°C was set to 1, and the other values were adjusted accordingly. (C) Pyruvate prevents the collapse of ΔΨm. The green/red fluorescence intensity ratio represents the extent to which the ΔΨm collapses. Presented are typical pictures representative of five repeats. Bars, 5 μm. Values with different letters are statistically significantly different (one-way ANOVA, P < 0.05). (D) Pyruvate (0.5 mM) promotes fungal growth on PDA plates under heat stress (35°C). The growth rates differed significantly (t test, P < 0.01) at ≥4 days postinoculation. Bars, 10 mm. Pictures were taken 14 days postinoculation. Presented are typical pictures representative of three repeats.