English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Ethylene (ET) emitted by plant tissues has been broadly reported to play important roles in plant development, response to environmental stresses and defense against certain pathogens. Recent evidence obtained from using  in vitro  fungal cultures exposed to ET suggested that exogenous ET may regulate the production of aflatoxin by  Aspergilli . However, the function of endogenous, seed-derived ET has not been explored. In this study, we found that the maize lipoxygenase  lox3  mutant, previously reported to be susceptible to  Aspergillus  spp., emitted greater levels of ET upon  A. flavus  infection, suggesting the potential involvement of endogenous ET in the susceptibility of maize to  A. flavus . Supporting this idea, both colonization and conidiation of  A. flavus  were reduced in wild-type (WT) kernels treated with AgNO 3 , an ET synthesis inhibitor. There was no ET emission from non-viable kernels colonized by  A. flavus , suggesting that living seed but not the fungus itself was the primary source of ET released upon infection with  A. flavus . The kernels of  acs2  and  acs6 , two ET biosynthetic mutants carrying  Mutator  transposons in the ACC synthase genes,  ACS2  and  ACS6 , respectively, displayed enhanced seed colonization and conidiation, but not the levels of aflatoxin, upon infection with  A. flavus . Surprisingly, both  acs2  and  acs6  mutant kernels emitted greater levels of ET in response to infection by  A. flavus  as compared with WT seed. The increased ET in single mutants was found to be due to overexpression of functional ACS genes in response to  A. flavus  infection. Collectively, these findings suggested that ET emitted by infected seed facilitates colonization by  A. flavus  but not aflatoxin production.

Seed-Derived Ethylene Facilitates Colonization but Not Aflatoxin Production by Aspergillus flavus in Maize