ChSte7 Is Required for Vegetative Growth and Various Plant Infection Processes in Colletotrichum higginsianum

Figure 6

Loss of the ability for invasive growth of ChSte7 disruption mutants in leaves of Arabidopsis. (a) Pathogenicity assays were performed on wounded leaves of Arabidopsis plants using conidia suspensions of wild-type strain Ch-1, ChSte7 disruption mutants ΔChSte7-26 and ΔChSte7-48, and complementation strain CΔChSte7-26-20. At 4 dpi, the ChSte7 disruption mutants caused no symptoms on wounded tissues, while wild-type and complementation strain caused water-soaked lesions on wounded leaf tissues. Arrows indicate wounded sites on leaves. (b) Leaf tissues from wound sites were viewed by light microscopy. Hyphae from germinating conidia of the ChSte7 disruption mutants grew above the epithelial cells of Arabidopsis leaves and could not enter into the wound sites. Scale bar = 100 μm. (c) Near the wound sites, appressoria of the ChSte7 disruption mutants were not formed on leaves, and germinating conidia could not form invasive hyphae to enter into the wound sites but produce aerial hyphae beyond or around wound sites. Ah, aerial hyphae; Ap, appressoria; Co, conidia; Ih, invasive hyphae. Scale bar = 10 μm.

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