Characterization of Effector Encoding Genes from the Novel Sugar Beet Pathogen Fusarium Secorum

Abstract

A new disease of sugar beet, named Fusarium yellowing decline, was recently found in in the Red River Valley of MN and ND. This disease is caused by a novel pathogen named Fusarium secorum. Pathogens such as F. secorum secrete proteins during infection called ‘effectors’ that help establish disease. Since pathogenicity and disease development may depend on effector proteins produced by F. secorum during infection, effector protein identification furthers our understanding of the biology of this important pathogen. A list of 11 candidate effectors was generated previously. In this study, to characterize putative effectors, we developed a transformation system using polyethylene glycol–mediated transformation. Several mutant lines were created with an effector deleted from the genome using a split-marker knock-out strategy. To explore their role in pathogenicity, mutant strains have been inoculated to sugarbeet and compared to WT F. secorum.