Carbon catabolite repression in plant pathogenic fungi: isolation and characterization of the Gibberella fujikuroi and Botrytis cinerea creA genes

The creA genes of two plant pathogenic fungi, the gibberellin-producing ric e pathogen Gibberella fujikuroi and the gray mold Botrytis cinerea. were is olated and characterized. The deduced amino acid sequences of both glucose repressors are 64% identical to each other and 59% (G. fujikuroi) and 61% ( B. cinerea) identical to the CreA protein of Aspergillus nidulans. The zinc finger regions of the Gibberella and Botrytis CreA proteins shared 98% ide ntity with the corresponding zinc finger region of the A. nidulans protein, and studies by complementation of a creA null mutant of A. nidulans showed that the proteins al-e functional homologues of A. nidulans CreA. Northern blot analysis revealed that creA transcript levels are independent of the carbon source in both fungi. (C) 2000 Federation of European Microbiologica l Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.