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BcSAK1, a Stress-Activated Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase, Is Involved in Vegetative Differentiation and Pathogenicity in Botrytis cinerea

Nadja Segmüller, Ursula Ellendorf, Bettina Tudzynski, and Paul Tudzynski^*

Institut für Botanik, Westf. Wilhelms-Universität, Schlossgarten 3, D-48149 Münster, Germany

Received 29 May 2006/ Accepted 12 December 2006

The gene bcsak1, encoding a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) of Botrytis cinerea, was cloned and characterized. The protein has high homology to the yeast Hog1 and to corresponding MAPKs from filamentous fungi, but it shows unique functional features. The protein is phosphorylated under osmotic stress, specific fungicides, and oxidative stress mediated by H₂O₂ and menadione. Northern blot analyses indicate that only a subset of typical oxidative stress response genes is regulated by BcSAK1. In contrast to most other fungal systems, bcsak1 mutants are significantly impaired in vegetative and pathogenic development: they are blocked in conidia formation, show increased sclerotial development, and are unable to penetrate unwounded plant tissue. These data indicate that in B. cinerea the stress-activated MAPK cascade is involved in essential differentiation programs.

Published ahead of print on 22 December 2006.

Present address: Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 80 25, NL-6700 EE Wageningen, The Netherlands.

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