A Nucleolar Protein, MoRRP8 Is Required for Development and Pathogenicity in the Rice Blast Fungus

The nucleolus is the largest, membrane-less organelle within the nucleus of eukaryotic cell that plays a critical role in rRNA transcription and assembly of ribosomes. Recently, the nucleolus has been shown to be implicated in an array of processes including the formation of signal recognition particles and response to cellular stress. Such diverse functions of nucleolus are mediated by nucleolar proteins. In this study, we characterized a gene coding a putative protein containing a nucleolar localization sequence (NoLS) in the rice blast fungus, <i>Magnaporthe oryzae</i>. Phylogenetic and domain analysis suggested that the protein is orthologous to Rrp8 in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>. MoRRP8-GFP (translational fusion of MoRRP8 with green fluorescence protein) co-localizes with a nucleolar marker protein, MoNOP1 fused to red fluorescence protein (RFP), indicating that MoRRP8 is a nucleolar protein. Deletion of the <i>MoRRP8</i> gene caused a reduction in vegetative growth and impinged largely on asexual sporulation. Although the asexual spores of Δ<i>Morrp8</i> were morphologically indistinguishable from those of wild-type, they showed delay in germination and reduction in appressorium formation. Our pathogenicity assay revealed that the <i>MoRRP8</i> is required for full virulence and growth within host plants. Taken together, these results suggest that nucleolar processes mediated by MoRRP8 is pivotal for fungal development and pathogenesis.