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Poster

Session: Session 2 Presenting Authors at Posters (Odds)

P-129 - Identification of a novel group of Pmk1 MAP kinase-regulated phosphorylated effectors deployed by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae during plant infection

Wednesday, July 16, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Effector Interference Mechanisms

    Presenting Author(s)

  • MB

    MARK JAVE BAUTISTA

    PhD student
    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

    • Author(s)

  • NC

    Neftaly Cruz-Mireles

    Postdoctoral scientist
    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

  • XY

    Xia Yan

    Postdoctoral Scientist
    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

  • VW

    Vincent Were

    Postdoctoral scientist
    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

  • LH

    Luyao Huang

    Postdoctoral scientist
    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

  • PD

    Paul Derbyshire

    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

  • NS

    Neha Sahu

    Postdoctoral scientist
    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

  • YS

    Yu Sugihara

    Postdoctoral scientist
    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    NORWICH, England, United Kingdom

  • FM

    Frank L.H. Menke

    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

  • NT

    Nicholas J. Talbot

    Group Leader
    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae secretes a battery of effector proteins to manipulate host defence and colonise its host. The pathogenicity MAP kinase Pmk1 governs M. oryzae appressorium formation and tissue colonisation, but most of its downstream targets remain unknown. In this study, we used a comparative phosphoproteomics approach to investigate plant infection by the blast fungus. We identified a group of seven phosphorylated effector proteins dependent upon Pmk1 MAPK activity for their expression. These Pmk1-Regulated Effectors (PREs) are specifically expressed between 24-48h after plant infection when the fungus rapidly colonises rice tissue. PRE genes are highly conserved in 163 available genomes of M. oryzae including numerous host-limited forms of the fungus. Subcellular localisation of GFP-tagged PREs showed that they accumulate at the Biotrophic Interfacial Complex during invasive growth, indicating that they are cytoplasmic effectors delivered to host cells. Targeted gene deletion of PREs has so far provided evidence for a role for Pre2 in fungal virulence. Immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry of YFP-tagged PREs transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana revealed that PREs are phosphorylated in planta. Taken together, our work provides evidence that a sub-set of effectors can be phosphorylated during host plant infection and are regulated as part of a developmental programme controlled by the M. oryzae Pmk1 MAP kinase.