Transcriptome analyses during root colonization by beneficial or pathogenic Colletotrichum tofieldiae

Plant-associated fungi assume different lifestyles within plants, but it is unclear how a fungal strain switches among different lifestyles under changing host environments. In contrast to the reported beneficial root fungus C. tofieldiae (Ct) strain promoting plant growth of A. thaliana under phosphate limiting conditions, we show that one Ct strain (Ct3) behaving as a pathogen can severely inhibit plant growth. we found that transcriptional activation of the sesquiterpene abscisic acid (ABA) and botrydial (BOT) biosynthetic combined cluster genes in Ct genomes turns beneficial Ct3 into a pathogenic fungus that heavily colonizes roots and causes disease.To elucidate and address the complete picture of potential host pathways affected by the fungal ABA and BOT biosynthetic genes, We conducted A. thaliana transcriptome analysis using A. thaliana roots inoculated with Ct3, aba2, aba3, bot5, or beneficial Ct4 at 10 dpi under low-Pi.