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The Colletotrichum genus is listed as one of the top 10 important plant pathogens, causing significant economic losses worldwide. The C2H2 zinc finger protein serves as a crucial transcription factor regulating growth and development in fungi. In this study, we identified two C2H2 transcription factors, CgrCon7 and CsCon7, in Colletotrichum graminicola and Colletotrichum siamense, as the orthologs of Con7p in Magnaporthe oryzae. Both CgrCon7 and CsCon7 have a typical C2H2 zinc finger domain and exhibit visible nuclear localization. Disrupting Cgrcon7 or Cscon7 led to a decreased growth rate, changes in cell wall integrity, and low tolerance to H2O2. Moreover, the deletion of Cgrcon7 or Cscon7 dramatically decreased conidial production, and their knockout mutants also lost the ability to produce appressoria and hyphopodia. Pathogenicity assays displayed that deleting Cgrcon7 or Cscon7 resulted in a complete loss of virulence. Transcriptome analysis showed that CgrCon7 and CsCon7 were involved in regulating many genes related to ROS detoxification, chitin synthesis, and cell wall degradation, etc. In conclusion, CgrCon7 and CsCon7 act as master transcription factors coordinating vegetative growth, oxidative stress response, cell wall integrity, asexual sporulation, appressorium formation, and pathogenicity in C. graminicola and C. siamense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a main pathogen causing rubber anthracnose, which brings huge economic loss to natural rubber industry. Oligopeptide transporter (OPT) is a kind of peptide transport protein, which usually exhibits various biological functions in fungi. In this study, an oligopeptide transporter gene CgOPT2 is identified from the rubber anthracnose fungus C. gloeosporioides as a homolog of OPT2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. CgOPT2 encodes a 990-amino acid protein, which has an OPT domain harboring 15 transmembrane domains. The gene knock-out mutant of CgOPT2 had reduced vegetative growth on PDA and CM media, and was more sensitive to H 2 O 2 , SDS and Congo Red than the wild-type strain. Moreover, the mutant had obviously lagged conidia germination and attenuated virulence on rubber leaves. Transcriptome analysis showed CgOPT2 could affect the expression of many genes involved in cellular transport, amino acid metabolism and signal transduction, etc. In conclusion, CgOPT2 is an important oligopeptide transporter of C. gloeosporioides , which participates in the process of vegetative growth, cell wall integrity, oxidative stress, conidia germination and pathogenicity. • A new oligopeptide transporter CgOPT2 was cloned and characterized from Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. • CgOPT2 regulates vegetative growth, cell wall integrity, conidial germination and pathogenicity of C. gloeosporioides. • CgOPT2 affects the expression of many genes related to cellular transport, amino acid metabolism and signal transduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]