VdPKS1 is required for melanin formation and virulence in a cotton wilt pathogen Verticillium dahliae

Verticillium dahliae is a soil-borne phytopathogenic fungus that causes vascular wilt disease in a broad range of hosts. This pathogen survives for many years in soil in the form of melanized microsclerotia. To investigate the melanin synthesis in V. dahliae, we identified a polyketide synthase gene in V. dahliae, namely VdPKS1. PKS1 is known to involve in the dihydroxynaphthalene melanin synthesis pathway in many fungi. We found that VdPKS1 was required for melanin formation but not for microsclerotial production in V. dahliae. The VdPKS1 gene-disruption mutant (vdpks1) formed melanin-deficient albino microsclerotia, which did not affect the fungal colonization in host tissues but significantly reduced the disease severity. Gene transcription analysis in the wild-type and the vdpks1 strains suggested that VdPKS1 gene-disruption influenced the expression of a series of genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis, microsclerotial formation and pathogenesis. Our results suggest that the VdPKS1-mediated melanin synthesis is important for virulence and developmental traits of V. dahliae.