05) (Table 2), suggesting that Ntl affects conidiospore thermotolerance. Ntl has no effect on virulence Bioassays revealed that mortality trends

of locusts inoculated with over-expression mutants or RNAi mutants were similar to that of locusts inoculated with wild strain (Figure 5A). Accordingly, no significant differences Selleckchem Kinase Inhibitor Library were observed in locust lethal time values for 50% mortality (LT50) between the wild-type strain, over-expression mutants, or RNAi mutants (p > 0.05) (Figure 5B). This result suggested changes in Ntl expression level did not affect the virulence of M. acridum. Figure 5 Bioassay results for M. acridum against Locusta migratoria. 1: wild-type strain; 2-5: over-expression mutants; 6-9: RNAi mutants. A: mortality (±SE) of Locusta migratoria

treated with wild-type strain and various Ntl transformants; B: lethal time values for 50% mortality (LT50) values of Locusta migratoria selleck chemicals treated with wild-type strain and various Ntl transformants. Standard error (SE) bars are averages for four independent experiments. Same lowercase letters indicate no significant differences (p > 0.05). Discussion Resisting CP-690550 research buy thermal stress is important for pathogens of the locust, like M. acridum, because temperatures fluctuate in locust habitats and locusts themselves could also employ behavioral fever to counter fungal infection [33]. Ntl has been reported to play an important role in environmental stress response. In this study, the function of Ntl with respect to thermotolerance in M. acridum was investigated by changing its expression level via RNAi and over-expression mutants. Trehalose is an important factor determining thermotolerance in M. acridum. Trehalose content and thermotolerance were significantly and positively correlated, and Ntl activity was significantly and negatively correlated with Sinomenine thermotolerance (Table 2). These results suggest that trehalose

accumulation and metabolism play important roles in thermotolerance, but this factor is not the only controller of thermotolerance [22, 34]. The accumulation and metabolism of other polyols, such as sucrose and glycerol, may also be factors in stress response [22]. It is possible that changes in trehalose concentration produced by up- or down-regulating trehalase levels may also affect the levels of other polyols and the entire metabolic process. Further investigation of other polyols in the Ntl mutants is required to understand fully the mechanism of the effect of Ntl on M. acridum thermotolerance. Field conditions and abiotic environmental factors, such as temperature, moisture, and sunlight, influence whether infection can occur. When the host temperature favors a short germination time and that temperature is above or below the pathogen’s optimum, temperature can be a limiting factor for the disease.