Fig. 2

Influence of FgBZIP16 deletion on virulence and endoglucanase activity. a Flowering wheat heads were drop-inoculated with conidia of the wild type strain PH-1, ΔFgbzip16 mutant and complementation strain. Photographs were taken at 14 days post-inoculation (dpi). Inoculated spikelets were pointed by white arrows. b Spikelets were inoculated with conidia of each strain that expressed FgActin-RFP as control. Images were taken at 7 days. Inoculated spikelets were indicated by white arrows. c Penetration of cellophane by fungal hyphae. The strain was cultured on the top of cellophane membranes placed on minimal medium at 25°C. After 2 days of incubation, removed the fungal dishes and the cellophane membranes, and cultured the plates for an additional day and photographed. d Measurements of endoglucanase activity. The endoglucanase activity in mycelia was measured by spectrophotometrically. One unit of enzymatic activity is defined as 1 nmol/min reducing sugars released from the substrate. Line bars in each column denote the standard errors of three repeated experiments. The asterisks indicate a significant difference at P < 0.01