The C4-dicarboxylic acid transporter MaDCT1 regulates the sporulation pattern by affecting the utilization of carbon sources in Metarhizium acridum

The absorption and utilization of carbon source is the foundation for the successful colonization and expansion of pathogens in the host. When the glucose content is low, pathogens can use the gluconeogenesis pathway to synthesize glucose for metabolism, and the substrate of the gluconeogenesis pathway is mostly tetracarbon dicarboxylic acid. Tetracarbon dicarboxylic acids are important carbon sources and energy substances. The use of tetracarbon dicarboxylic acid in fungal cells is inseparable from the role of the C4-dicarboxylate transporter (DCT). However, the current research on the C4-dicarboxylate transporter is mainly focused on bacteria, and no report about DCT was found in pathogenic fungi. To explore the function of the DCT genesis very important for studying the growth and colonization of entomopathogenic fungi. In this study, the functions of the MaDCT genes were analyzed by disruption through homologous recombination in M. acridum.