AUTHOR=Lyu Xueliang , Shen Cuicui , Fu Yanping , Xie Jiatao , Jiang Daohong , Li Guoqing , Cheng Jiasen TITLE=The Microbial Opsin Homolog Sop1 is involved in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Development and Environmental Stress Response JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=6 YEAR=2016 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01504 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2015.01504 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Microbial opsins play a crucial role in responses to various environmental signals. Here, we report that the microbial opsin homolog gene sop1 from the necrotrophic phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum was dramatically up-regulated during infection and sclerotial development compared with the vegetative growth stage. Further, study showed that sop1 was essential for growth, sclerotial development and full virulence of S. sclerotiorum. Sop1-silenced transformants were more sensitive to high salt stress, fungicides and high osmotic stress. However, they were more tolerant to oxidative stress compared with the wild-type strain, suggesting that sop1 is involved in different stress responses and fungicide resistance, which plays a role in the environmental adaptability of S. sclerotiorum. Furthermore, a Delta blast search showed that microbial opsins are absent from the genomes of animals and most higher plants, indicating that sop1 is a potential drug target for disease control of S. sclerotiorum.