Functional Characterization of Target of Rapamycin Signaling in Verticillium dahliae

More than 200 plants have been suffering from Verticillium wilt caused by ( ) across the world. The target of rapamycin (TOR) is a lethal gene and controls cell growth and development in various eukaryotes, but little is known about TOR signaling in . Here, we found that strain is hypersensitive to rapamycin in the presence of rapamycin binding protein VdFKBP12 while the deletion mutant aaa is insensitive to rapamycin. Heterologous expressing in conferred rapamycin sensitivity, indicating that can bridge the interaction between rapamycin and TOR across species. The key across species of TOR complex 1 (TORC1) and TORC2 have been identified in , suggesting that TOR signaling pathway is evolutionarily conserved in eukaryotic species. Furthermore, the RNA-seq analysis showed that ribosomal biogenesis, RNA polymerase II transcription factors and many metabolic processes were significantly suppressed in rapamycin treated cells of . Importantly, transcript levels of genes associated with cell wall degrading enzymes (CWEDs) were dramatically down-regulated in TOR-inhibited cells. Further infection assay showed that the pathogenicity of and occurrence of Verticillium wilt can be blocked in the presence of rapamycin. These observations suggested that VdTOR is a key target of for controlling and preventing Verticillium wilt in plants.