AUTHOR=Liu Na , Zhou Shanyue , Li Baohua , Ren Weichao 

TITLE=Involvement of the Autophagy Protein Atg6 in Development and Virulence in the Gray Mold Fungus Botrytis cinerea

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.798363

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.798363

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Gray mold caused by <italic>Botrytis cinerea</italic> is a devastating disease that leads to huge economic losses worldwide. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process that maintains intracellular homeostasis through self-eating. In this study, we identified and characterized the biological function of the autophagy-related protein Atg6 in <italic>B. cinerea</italic>. Targeted deletion of the <italic>BcATG6</italic> gene showed block of autophagy and several phenotypic defects in aspects of mycelial growth, conidiation, sclerotial formation and virulence. All of the phenotypic defects were restored by targeted gene complementation. Taken together, these results suggest that BcAtg6 plays important roles in the regulation of various cellular processes in <italic>B. cinerea</italic>.</p>