Regulated synthesis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by membrane-bound fungal NADPH oxidases (Nox) plays a key role in fungal morphogenesis, growth, and development. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by the plant symbiotic fungus, Epichloë festucae , requires functional assembly of a multisubunit complex composed of NoxA, a regulatory component, NoxR, and the small GTPase RacA. However, the mechanism for assembly and activation of this complex at the plasma membrane is unknown. We found by yeast two-hybrid and coimmunoprecipitation assays that E. festucae NoxR interacts with homologs of the yeast polarity proteins, Bem1 and Cdc24, and that the Phox and Bem1 (PB1) protein domains found in these proteins are essential for these interactions. GFP fusions of BemA, Cdc24, and NoxR preferentially localized to actively growing hyphal tips and to septa. These proteins interact with each other in vivo at these same cellular sites as shown by bimolecular fluorescent complementation assays. The PB1 domain of NoxR is essential for localization to the hyphal tip. An E. festucae Δ bemA mutant was defective in hyphal morphogenesis and growth in culture and in planta . The changes in fungal growth in planta resulted in a defective symbiotic interaction phenotype. Our inability to isolate a Δ cdc24 mutant suggests this gene is essential. These results demonstrate that BemA and Cdc24 play a critical role in localizing NoxR protein to sites of fungal hyphal morphogenesis and growth. Our findings identify a potential shared ancestral link between the protein machinery required for fungal polarity establishment and the Nox complex controlling cellular differentiation.

RUNX1/ETO, the fusion protein resulting from the chromosomal translocation t(8;21), is one of the most frequent translocation products in acute myeloid leukemia. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that the homo-tetramerization domain of ETO, the nervy homology region 2 (NHR2), is essential for RUNX1/ETO oncogenic activity. We analyzed the energetic contribution of individual amino acids within the NHR2 to RUNX1/ETO dimertetramer transition and found a clustered area of 5 distinct amino acids with strong contribution to the stability of tetramers. Substitution of these amino acids abolishes tetramer formation without affecting dimer formation. Similar to RUNX1/ ETO monomers, dimers failed to bind efficiently to DNA and to alter expression of RUNX1-dependent genes. RUNX1/ETO dimers do not block myeloid differentiation, are unable to enhance the selfrenewal capacity of hematopoietic progenitors, and fail to induce leukemia in a murine transplantation model. Our data reveal the existence of an essential structural motif (hot spot) at the NHR2 dimertetramer interface, suitable for a molecular intervention in t(8;21) leukemias. IntroductionChromosomal translocations are frequent events during malignant cell transformation, particularly during leukemogenesis. 1 The translocation t(8;21), one of the most frequent chromosomal anomalies in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), involves the RUNX1 gene (also known as AML1, CBF␣2, or PEBP2␣B) on chromosome 21 and the ETO gene (also known as MTG8 or RUNX1T1) on chromosome 8. The ubiquitously expressed RUNX1 is a transcription factor and belongs to the key regulators of hematopoietic cell differentiation. 2 The fusion protein RUNX1/ETO contains the DNA-binding domain (Runt, RHD) of the RUNX1 transcription factor but lacks the C-terminal transactivation sequence that is replaced by almost the entire ETO protein. 2 forms of RUNX1/ETO coexist in AML-leukemia samples: the originally discovered full-length RUNX1/ETO and a splice variant called RUNX1/ETO9a, which lacks 178 amino acids at the C-terminus. Only RUNX1/ETO9a does not require cooperative events for inducing leukemia development in mice. 3,4 We and others have shown that RUNX1/ETO has a modular structure. Besides the Runt domain, RUNX1/ETO contains 4 functional domains, which are generally referred to as nervy homology region (NHR1 to NHR4). The NHR domains serve as docking interface for a variety of different proteins, including the E-protein HEB, 5,6 the apoptosis-related protein SON, 7 and nuclear corepressor proteins, such as N-CoR, SMRT, mSIN3A, and MTGR1, as well as histone deacetylases (HDACs). [8][9][10][11] In addition, the NHR2 domain mediates tetramer formation through hydrophobic and ionic/polar interactions. Two ␣-helices align in a head-to-tail fashion to form an antiparallel dimer. Two dimers subsequently are positioned on top of each other in a sandwich-like fashion. The total interaction area composing all contact points of the 4 ␣-helices is approximately 10 000 Å. 2 Substitution of 7 leucines withi...

Summary Epichloë festucae forms a mutualistic symbiotic association with Lolium perenne. This biotrophic fungus systemically colonizes the intercellular spaces of aerial tissues to form an endophytic hyphal network. E. festucae also grows as an epiphyte, but the mechanism for leaf surface colonization is not known. Here we identify an appressorium‐like structure, which we call an expressorium that allows endophytic hyphae to penetrate the cuticle from the inside of the leaf to establish an epiphytic hyphal net on the surface of the leaf.We used a combination of scanning electron, transmission electron and confocal laser scanning microscopy to characterize this novel fungal structure and determine the composition of the hyphal cell wall using aniline blue and wheat germ agglutinin labelled with Alexafluor‐488.Expressoria differentiate immediately below the cuticle in the leaf blade and leaf sheath intercalary cell division zones where the hyphae grow by tip growth. Differentiation of this structure requires components of both the NoxA and NoxB NADPH oxidase complexes. Major remodelling of the hyphal cell wall occurs following exit from the leaf.These results establish that the symbiotic association of E. festucae with L. perenne involves an interconnected hyphal network of both endophytic and epiphytic hyphae.

Epichloë festucae is a mutualistic symbiont that systemically colonizes the intercellular spaces of Lolium perenne leaves to form a highly structured and interconnected hyphal network. In an Agrobacterium tumefaciens T-DNA forward genetic screen, we identified a mutant TM1066 that had a severe host interaction phenotype, causing stunting and premature senescence of the host. Molecular analysis revealed that the mutation responsible for this phenotype was in the cell-wall integrity (CWI) mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK), mkkA. Mutants generated by targeted deletion of the mkkA or the downstream mpkA kinase recapitulated the phenotypes observed for TM1066. Both mutants were defective in hyphal cell–cell fusion, formed intrahyphal hyphae, had enhanced conidiation, and showed microcyclic conidiation. Transmission electron microscopy and confocal microscopy analysis of leaf tissue showed that mutant hyphae were more abundant than the wild type in the intercellular spaces and colonized the vascular bundles. Hyphal branches failed to fuse but, instead, grew past one another to form bundles of convoluted hyphae. Mutant hyphae showed increased fluorescence with AF488-WGA, indicative of increased accessibility of chitin, a hypothesis supported by changes in the cell-wall ultrastructure. These results show that the CWI MAPK pathway is a key signaling pathway for controlling the mutualistic symbiotic interaction between E. festucae and L. perenne.