Function of small GTPase Rho3 in regulating growth, conidiation and virulence of Botrytis cinerea

Small GTPases of the Rho family play an important role in regulating biological processes in fungi. In this study, we mainly investigated the biological functions of Rho3 in Botrytis cinerea, and found that deletion of the rho3 from B. cinerea significantly suppressed vegetative growth and conidiation, reduced appressorium formation and decreased virulence. Microscopy analysis revealed that the distance between septa was increased in the Δrho3 mutant. In addition, mitochondria were suggested to be the main sources of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in B. cinerea based on dual staining with 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate and MitoTracker orange. The Δrho3 mutant showed less accumulation of ROS in the hyphae tips compared to the WT strain of B. cinerea. These results provide the novel evidence to ascertain the function of small GTPase Rho3 in regulating growth, conidiation and virulence of B. cinerea.