The Candidate Effector Cgmas2 Orchestrates Biphasic Infection of Colletotrichum graminicola in Maize by Coordinating Invasive Growth and Suppressing Host Immunity

Maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) is a major economic crop highly susceptible to <i>Colletotrichum graminicola</i>, the causal agent of anthracnose leaf blight, which causes substantial annual yield losses. This fungal pathogen employs numerous effectors to manipulate plant immunity, yet the functions of many secreted proteins during biphasic infection remain poorly characterized. In this study, we identified CgMas2, a candidate secreted protein in <i>C. graminicola</i> and a homolog of <i>Magnaporthe oryzae</i> MoMas2. Deletion of <i>CgMAS2</i> in the wild-type strain CgM2 did not affect fungal vegetative growth or conidial morphology but significantly impaired virulence on maize leaves. Leaf sheath infection assays revealed that CgMas2 is required for biotrophic invasive hyphal growth, as the mutant showed defective spreading of invasive hyphae to adjacent cells. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that CgMas2 localizes to the cytoplasm of conidia and to the primary infection hyphae. Furthermore, DAB staining demonstrated that disrupt of <i>CgMAS2</i> leads to host reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Comparative transcriptome analysis of maize infected with Δ<i>Cgmas2</i> versus CgM2 revealed enrichment of GO terms related to peroxisome and defense response, along with up-regulation of benzoxazinoid biosynthesis genes (benzoxazinone biosynthesis 3, 4 and 5) at 60 h post-inoculation (hpi). Conversely, six ethylene-responsive transcription factors (ERF2, ERF3, ERF56, ERF112, ERF115 and ERF118) involved in ethylene signaling pathways were down-regulated at 96 hpi. These expression patterns were validated by RT-qPCR. Collectively, our results demonstrate that CgMas2 not only promotes invasive hyphal growth during the biotrophic stage but may also modulate phytohormone signaling and defense compound biosynthesis during the necrotrophic phase of infection.