Functional Analysis of the virulence factor Mavrf1 in Metarhizium acridum

In this study, the MaVrf1, the C2H2 transcription factor Vrf1 homologous protein, was identified in M. acridum. To reveal the roles of MaVrf1, we performed a functional analysis of MaVrf1 through gene knockout and complementation techniques. The results demonstrate that MaVrf1 negatively regulated the UV-B irradiation tolerance of M. acridum. Notably, deletion of MaVrf1 dramatically reduces the fungal virulence due to the impairment of the appressorium formation in M. acridum.