Dihydroxyhexanoic acid biosynthesis controls turgor in pathogenic fungi
Many plant pathogenic fungi penetrate host surfaces mechanically, using turgor pressure generated by specialized infection cells called appressoria. These appressoria develop semipermeable cell walls and accumulate osmolytes internally to create turgor by osmosis. Although melanin is known to be important for turgor generation, the mechanism underlying wall semipermeability remains unclear. By using reverse genetics, we identified that the enzymes PKS2 and PBG13 are required for forming the semipermeable barrier in fungi causing anthracnose and rice blast diseases. These enzymes synthesize 3,5-dihydroxyhexanoic acid polymers that are essential for pathogenicity. These polymers reduce cell wall permeability and generate turgor, independently of melanization. Our findings uncover a mechanism of fungal turgor generation, linking enzyme function to pathogen penetration and disease potential, presenting new targets for disease control.
Authors
- Naoyoshi Kumakura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0259-2444)
- Nobuaki Ishihama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5331-1599)
- Richard J. O’Connell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5358-6143)
- Keisuke Miyazawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8435-1304)
- Pamela Gan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3949-7793)
- Sandrine Lévêque‐Fort (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9218-3363)
- Katsuma Yonehara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8366-9307)
- Mayuko Sato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5612)
- Toshihiko Nogawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1270-5270)
- Kiminori Toyooka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6414-5191)
- Ken Shirasu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0349-3870)
- Takayuki Motoyama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7602-2394)
- Yumi Goto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1454-9854)
- K. MATSUMORI
- Takeshi Fukuma
- Julien Pernier
- Kaori Sakai
- Hiroyuki Koshino
Institutions
- Kanazawa University (JP)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (JP)
- Life Science Institute (JP)
- Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay (FR)
- Biologie et Gestion des Risques en Agriculture (FR)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2026-02-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aec9443
- Primary Topic
- Fungal and yeast genetics research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00