Adelene SM Auyong
Australia
Research Article
The Role of Cutinase and its Impact on Pathogenicity of Colletotrichum truncatum
Author(s): Adelene SM Auyong, Rebecca Ford and Paul WJ Taylor
Adelene SM Auyong, Rebecca Ford and Paul WJ Taylor
The phytopathogenic fungus, Colletotrichum truncatum infects and colonises chili fruit through direct penetration of the cuticle. The cutinase gene of C. truncatum (CtCut1), a cutin degrading enzyme was identified, cloned and shown to be essential in breaching the cuticle of chili fruit. The expression of CtCut1 gene was studied through RNA-mediated gene silencing and its impact on fungal pathogenicity was demonstrated. The vector, pAA1 encoding a hairpin RNA of GFP and CtCut1 was constructed and transformed into C. truncatum pathotype F8-3B (virulent strain). F8-3B-pAA1 transformants exhibited reduced patterns of infection with one isolate having a 45.8% reduction in cutinase activity (reduction in CtCut1 transcript) in comparison to the wild type. Importantly, CtCut1-deficient strains were unable to infect detached chili and soybean hosts as efficie.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2157-7471.1000259