Figure 8.

Effects of rapamycin on vegetative growth, autophagic cell death and pathogenicity of M. oryzae. (A) Plate colonies of the Guy11 strain in CM agar medium. The Guy11 strain was grown on CM medium supplemented with rapamycin (rapa.) at the indicated concentration. Solvent DMSO was seperately added into medium as a control. (B) Diameters of plate colonies recorded every 2 days. (C) Autophagic conidial cell death of the Guy11 strain at 24 hpi of appressorium development on hydrophobic coverslip in the presence of rapamycin. Scale bar: 10 μm. (D) Percentage of Guy11 strain spores containing 3 totally-collapsed conidial cells at 24 hpi (n > 100, triple replications, ** P < 0.01). (E) Glycogen distribution during appressorium development on hydrophobic surface. Glycogen was stained by iodine solution and microscopically visualized as yellowish-brown deposits. (F) Percentage of spores containing glycogen content in conidial cells (n > 100, triple replications, * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01). (G) Lipid body translocation and degradation during appressorium morphogenesis as revealed by Bodipy staining. (H) Blast lesions on rice leaf segments infected with Guy11 strain. (I) Mean width and length of lesions calculated from at least 15 independent blast lesions. (J) qPCR analysis of fungal biomass in the infected rice leaf segments.