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Morphological transition is an important adaptive mechanism in the host invasion process. Wor1 is a conserved fungal regulatory protein that controls the phenotypic switching and pathogenicity of  Candida albicans . By modulating growth conditions, we simulated three models of  Beauveria bassiana  morphological transitions, including CTH (conidia to hyphae), HTC (hyphae to conidia), and BTB (blastospore to blastospore). Disruption of  BbWor1  (an ortholog of  Wor1 ) resulted in a distinct reduction in the time required for conidial germination (CTH), a significant increase in hyphal growth, and a decrease in the yield of conidia (HTC), indicating that BbWor1 positively controls conidium production and negatively regulates hyphal growth in conidium-hypha switching. Moreover, Δ BbWor1  prominently decreased blastospore yield, shortened the G 0 /G 1  phase, and prolonged the G 2 /M phase under the BTB model. Importantly, BbWor1 contributed to conidium-hypha switching and blastospore propagation via different genetic pathways, and yeast one-hybrid testing demonstrated the necessity of BbWor1 to control the transcription of an allergen-like protein gene (BBA_02580) and a conidial wall protein gene (BBA_09998). Moreover, the dramatically weakened virulence of Δ BbWor1  was examined by immersion and injection methods. Our findings indicate that BbWor1 is a vital participant in morphological transition and pathogenicity in entomopathogenic fungi.   IMPORTANCE  As a well-known entomopathogenic fungus,  Beauveria bassiana  has a complex life cycle and involves transformations among single-cell conidia, blastospores, and filamentous hyphae. This study provides new insight into the regulation of the fungal cell morphological transitions by simulating three models. Our research identified BbWor1 as a core transcription factor of morphological differentiation that positively regulates the production of conidia and blastospores but negatively regulates hyphal growth. More importantly, BbWor1 affects fungal pathogenicity and the global transcription profiles within three models of growth stage transformation. The present study lays a foundation for the exploration of the transition mechanism of entomopathogenic fungi and provides material for the morphological study of fungi.

BbWor1, a Regulator of Morphological Transition, Is Involved in Conidium-Hypha Switching, Blastospore Propagation, and Virulence in Beauveria bassiana