Anthropogenic long‐term nitrogen (N) deposition may dramatically impact biocrusts due to the overarching N limitation of soil biota in deserts. Even low levels of N may reach a critical loading threshold altering biocrust constituents and function. To identify the impact of chronic and continuous low levels of N deposition on biocrusts, we created a realistic gradient mirroring anthropogenic N addition rate (2:1 NH 4 + : NO 3...

Summary Hypocrealean Trichoderma are the most extensively studied facultative mycoparasites against phytopathogenic fungi. Aerial hyphae of Trichoderma guizhouense can rapidly proliferate over Fusarium oxysporum hyphae, cause sporadic cell death and arrest the growth of the host. The results of the present study demonstrated that a unique short‐chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR), designated as TgSDR1, was expressed at a high...

Summary SR protein‐specific kinases (SRPKs) uniquely with a spacer region are important splicing factors from yeast to human. However, little is known about their biological functions in filamentous fungi. Therefore, we characterized a SRPK called SRK1 in wheat scab fungus Fusarium graminearum . Our data showed that Srk1 is required for vegetative growth, sexual reproduction and plant infection, and plays critical roles in pre...

Summary The Pmk1 and Mps1 MAP kinases are essential for appressorium formation and plant infection in Magnaporthe oryzae . However, their exact roles during invasive growth are not clear because pmk1 and mps1 mutants are defective in penetration. To further characterize their functions after penetration, in this study we expressed the Pseudomonas syringae effector HopAI known to inactivate plant MAP kinases in M. oryzae . Cons...

Summary Variation in the symbiotic function of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM fungi) has been demonstrated among distinct biotic and abiotic interactions. However, there is little knowledge on how local temperature conditions influence the functional divergence of AM symbionts in alpine ecosystems. Here, we conduct a reciprocal inoculation experiment to explore the three‐way interactions among plants, AM fungal inoculum and...

Summary Appressorium formation plays a critical role in Magnaporthe oryzae . Mst50 is an adapter protein of the Mst11‐Mst7‐Pmk1 cascade that is essential for appressorium formation. To further characterize its functions, affinity purification was used to identify Mst50‐interacting proteins (MIPs) in this study. Two of the MIPs are Mst11 and Mst7 that are known to interact with Mst50 for Pmk1 activation. Surprisingly, two other...

Summary In Magnaporthe oryzae , the Mst11‐Mst7‐Pmk1 MAP kinase pathway is essential for appressorium formation and invasive growth. To determine their roles in Pmk1 activation and plant infection, we characterized the two thioredoxin genes, TRX1 and TRX2 , in M. oryzae . Whereas the Δ trx1 mutants had no detectable phenotypes, deletion of TRX2 caused pleiotropic defects in growth, conidiation, light sensing, responses to stres...

Summary Various surface signals are recognized by M agnaporthe oryzae to activate the P mk1 MAP kinase that is essential for appressorium formation and invasive growth. One of upstream sensors of the P mk1 pathway is the MoM sb2 signalling mucin. However, the activation of MoM sb2 and its relationship with other sensors is not clear. In this study, we showed that the cleavage and transmembrane domains are essential for MoM sb2...

Summary To what extent the genomes of different species belonging to one genus can be diverse and the relationship between genomic differentiation and environmental factor remain unclear for oceanic bacteria. With many new bacterial genera and species being isolated from marine environments, this question warrants attention. In this study, we sequenced all the type strains of the published species of G laciecola , a recently d...

Summary Many Bacillus thuringiensis isolates have no demonstrated toxicity against insects. In this study, a novel holotype crystal protein gene cry7Ba1 was isolated from a ‘non‐insecticidal’ B. thuringiensis strain YBT‐978. The Cry7Ba1 protein showed high toxicity against Plutella xylostella larvae after the crystals were dissolved at pH 12.5, suggesting that the ‘non‐insecticidal’ properties of this protein were due to insol...