MYST-Dependent Proteome and Acetylome Landscapes in Fungal Morphogenesis and Pathogenesis

Abstract Many fungi, including plant pathogens and medicinal mushrooms, are capable of producing sclerotia and are thus referred to as sclerotium-forming fungi. Although acetylation in certain groups of fungi has been studied, the functions of acetylation-associated proteins in sclerotium-forming fungi remain poorly understood. In this study, we used Sclerotinia sclerotiorum as the model and employed genetic mutagenesis together with proteomic and acetylomic analyses to uncover the acetylation-associated regulatory roles of the acetyltransferase MYST in fungal development and pathogenesis. We found that enhanced acetylation was associated with sclerotial development and that the MYST coding gene myst1 exhibited a maturation-specific expression. Functional analysis demonstrated that myst1 regulated mycelial growth, sclerotial formation, and pathogenesis. Moreover, myst1 deficiency induced hypoacetylation and remodeled both proteome and acetylome landscapes in S. sclerotiorum. These data reveal that MYST1 regulates fungal morphogenesis and pathogenicity in S. sclerotiorum and highlight the role of MYST-dependent acetylation in these processes. Our study provides a foundation for future studies targeting epigenetic modifications to manage S. sclerotiorum and other sclerotium-forming fungi for potential plant disease control.