Functional analysis of MaPom1 gene in Metarhizium acridum

Reversible phosphorylation of proteins regulated by protein kinases and phosphatases mediate plays an important role in organisms. In fungi, the dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase (DYRK) Pom1 play a crucial role in cell division and polar growth. In this study, dual-specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation regulated kinase (DYRK) Pom1 was functionally characterized in Metarhizium acridum. It was demonstrated that MaPom1 is an intracellular protein localized in the cytosol. Deletion of MaPom1 decreased branch numbers, affected septum formation and lead to the morphology of mycelial was changed. The deletion strain (MaPom1) germination of conidia was increased and delayed conidiation. In addition, the tolerances of MaPom1 to UV-B irradiation and heat-shock were significantly declined. However, the conidial yield and virulence were unaffected in M. acridum. RNA-seq was conducted to further identify the differetial expression genes (DEGs) influenced by the deletion of the MaPom1 gene in M. acridum. The results showed that 84 DEGs, including 41 upregulated genes and 43 downregulated genes in MaPom1, were screened via the comparative analysis of digital gene expression data from the MaPom1 and WT strains. Of these DEGs, some genes were involved in cell wall synthesis and modification, stress response and DNA repairs.