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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2009, p. 3787-3795, Vol. 75, No. 11
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01913-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase hog1 in the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria bassiana Regulates Environmental Stress Responses and Virulence to Insects{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Yongjun Zhang, Jianhua Zhao, Weiguo Fang, Jianqing Zhang, Zhibing Luo, Mi Zhang, Yanhua Fan, and Yan Pei*

Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Crop Quality Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Biotechnology Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, People's Republic of China

Received 18 August 2008/ Accepted 31 March 2009

Beauveria bassiana is an economically important insect-pathogenic fungus which is widely used as a biocontrol agent to control a variety of insect pests. However, its insecticide efficacy in the field is often influenced by adverse environmental factors. Thus, understanding the genetic regulatory processes involved in the response to environmental stress would facilitate engineering and production of a more efficient biocontrol agent. Here, a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-encoding gene, Bbhog1, was isolated from B. bassiana and shown to encode a functional homolog of yeast HIGH-OSMOLARITY GLYCEROL 1 (HOG1). A Bbhog1 null mutation was generated in B. bassiana by targeted gene replacement, and the resulting mutants were more sensitive to hyperosmotic stress, high temperature, and oxidative stress than the wild-type controls. These results demonstrate the conserved function of HOG1 MAPKs in the regulation of abiotic stress responses. Interestingly, {Delta}Bbhog1 mutants exhibited greatly reduced pathogenicity, most likely due to a decrease in spore viability, a reduced ability to attach to insect cuticle, and a reduction in appressorium formation. The transcript levels of two hydrophobin-encoding genes, hyd1 and hyd2, were dramatically decreased in a {Delta}Bbhog1 mutant, suggesting that Bbhog1 may regulate the expression of the gene associated with hydrophobicity or adherence.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Crop Quality Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Biotechnology Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, People's Republic of China. Phone and fax: 86-23-68250515. E-mail: peiyan3{at}swu.edu.cn

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 10 April 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2009, p. 3787-3795, Vol. 75, No. 11
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01913-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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