Abstract.
MAGGY is a gypsy-like retrotransposon isolated from the plant pathogenic fungus Magnaporthe grisea. The ability of various stresses to activate MAGGY was tested in the original and in a heterologous host (Colletotrichum lagenarium), using β-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter. The MAGGY promoter was activated in M. grisea by either heat shock, copper sulfate, or oxidative stress, but not by the antifungal substance p-coumaric acid. Transcriptional up-regulation of MAGGY RNA was also observed following heat shock and oxidative stress. The MAGGY promoter remained responsive to the above-mentioned stresses when transformed into a M. grisea isolate that had no endogenous MAGGY elements. In C. lagenarium, however, the MAGGY promoter showed only basal expression of GUS and no further up-regulation was induced by any of the stress treatments, suggesting that the stress-responding cis-element(s) in the MAGGY promoter is not functional in a wider range of fungi. The relationship between the activation of MAGGY by stress and phenotypic diversification in M. grisea, including variations in pathogenicity, is discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Electronic Publication
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ikeda, .K., Nakayashiki, .H., Takagi, .M. et al. Heat shock, copper sulfate and oxidative stress activate the retrotransposon MAGGY resident in the plant pathogenic fungus Magnaporthe grisea . Mol Gen Genomics 266, 318–325 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004380100560
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004380100560