AUTHOR=Li Peiqian , Pu Xiaoming , Feng Baozhen , Yang Qiyun , Shen Huifang , Zhang Jingxin , Lin Birun 

TITLE=FocVel1 influences asexual production, filamentous growth, biofilm formation, and virulence in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2015.00312

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2015.00312

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Velvet genes play critical roles in the regulation of diverse cellular processes. In current study, we identified the gene <italic>FocVel1</italic>, a homolog of <italic>Fusarium graminearum</italic> VelA, in the plant pathogenic fungus <italic>F</italic>. <italic>oxysporum</italic> f. sp. <italic>cucumerinum</italic>. This pathogen causes the destructive disease called cucumber <italic>Fusarium</italic> wilt (CFW), which severely affects the production and marketing of this vegetable worldwide. Transcript analyses revealed high expression of <italic>FocVel1</italic> during conidiophore development. Disruption of the <italic>FocVel1</italic> gene led to several phenotypic defects, including reduction in aerial hyphal formation and conidial production. The deletion mutant Δ<italic>FocVel1</italic> showed increased resistance to both osmotic stress and cell wall-damaging agents, but increased sensitivity to iprodione and prochloraz fungicides, which may be related to changes in cell wall components. In the process of biofilm formation <italic>in vitro</italic>, the mutant strain Δ<italic>FocVel1</italic> displayed not only a reduction in spore aggregation but also a delay in conidial germination on the polystyrene surface, which may result in defects in biofilm formation. Moreover, pathogenicity assays showed that the mutant Δ<italic>FocVel1</italic> exhibited impaired virulence in cucumber seedlings. And the genetic complementation of the mutant with the wild-type <italic>FocVel1</italic> gene restored all the defects of the Δ<italic>FocVel1</italic>. Taken together, the results of this study indicated that <italic>FocVel1</italic> played a critical role in the regulation of various cellular processes and pathogenicity in <italic>F</italic>. <italic>oxysporum</italic> f. sp. <italic>cucumerinum</italic>.</p>