Abstract
Significance:
Circadian-controlled cellular growth, differentiation, and metabolism are mainly achieved by a classical transcriptional–translational feedback loop (TTFL), as revealed by investigations in animals, plants, and fungi.
Recent Advances:
Recently, reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been reported as part of a cellular network synchronizing nontranscriptional oscillators with established TTFL components, adding complexity to regulatory mechanisms of circadian rhythm. Both circadian rhythm and ROS homeostasis have a great impact on plant immunity as well as fungal pathogenicity, therefore interconnections of these two factors are implicit in plant–fungus interactions.
Critical Issues:
In this review, we aim to summarize the recent advances in circadian-controlled ROS homeostasis, or ROS-modulated circadian clock, in plant–fungus pathosystems, particularly using the rice (Oryza sativa) blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae) pathosystem as an example. Understanding of such bidirectional interaction between the circadian timekeeping machinery and ROS homeostasis/signaling would provide a theoretical basis for developing disease control strategies for important plants/crops.
Future Directions:
Questions remain unanswered about the detailed mechanisms underlying circadian regulation of redox homeostasis in M. oryzae, and the consequent fungal differentiation and death in a time-of-day manner. We believe that the rice–M. oryzae pathobiosystem would provide an excellent platform for investigating such issues in circadian-ROS interconnections in a plant–fungus interaction context. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 37, 726–738.
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