AUTHOR=Fan Xinyue , He Fang , Ding Mingyu , Geng Chao , Chen Lei , Zou Shenshen , Liang Yuancun , Yu Jinfeng , Dong Hansong 

TITLE=Thioredoxin Reductase Is Involved in Development and Pathogenicity in Fusarium graminearum

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00393

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.00393

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Fusarium graminearum</italic> is one of the causal agents of Fusarium head blight and produces the trichothecene mycotoxin, deoxynivalenol (DON). Thioredoxin reductases (TRRs) play critical roles in the recycling of oxidized thioredoxin. However, their functions are not well known in plant pathogenic fungi. In this study, we characterized a TRR orthologue FgTRR in <italic>F. graminearum</italic>. The FgTRR-GFP fusion protein localized to the cytoplasm. <italic>FgTRR</italic> gene deletion demonstrated that FgTRR is involved in hyphal growth, conidiation, sexual reproduction, DON production, and virulence. The Δ<italic>TRR</italic> mutants also exhibited a defect in pigmentation, the expression level of aurofusarin biosynthesis-related genes was significantly decreased in the <italic>FgTRR</italic> mutant. Furthermore, the Δ<italic>TRR</italic> mutants were more sensitive to oxidative stress and aggravated apoptosis-like cell death compared with the wild type strain. Taken together, these results indicate that <italic>FgTRR</italic> is important in development and pathogenicity in <italic>F. graminearum</italic>.</p>