VdSho1 Regulates Growth, Oxidant Adaptation and Virulence in Verticillium dahliae

Verticillium dahliae infection leads to Verticillium wilt in cotton and other dicotyledon crops. To reduce the loss of economic crops, more attention has been focused on the key genes involved in pathogenicity of this soil-borne plant fungal pathogen. Sho1 encodes a conserved tetraspan transmembrane protein which is a key element of the two upstream branches of the HOG-MAPK pathway in fungi. Sho1 is required for full virulence in a wide variety of pathogenic fungi. In this study, sho1 mutant in V.dahliae (designated Vdsho1) was generated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Vdsho1 strain was highly sensitive to menadione (at concentration of 120m) and hydrogen peroxide (at concentration of 250m), displayed delayed spore germination and reduced spore production compared with the wild type and the complemented strains. During infection of host cotton plants, Vdsho1 exhibited impaired ability of root attachment and invasive growth. Results from the present work suggest that VdSho1 controls external sensing, virulence and multiple growth-related traits in V.dahliae and might serve as a potential target for control of Verticillium wilt.