The b-ZIP transcription factor, FgBzip16, is essential for fungal development, ascospore discharge, and pathogenicity by modulating fatty acid metabolism in Fusarium graminearum

Table 1 Phenotypic analysis of the wild type strain PH-1, ΔFgbzip16 mutant, and complementation strain in F. graminearum

Strain	Colony diameter (cm)^a		Conidiation	Conidial morphology(%)^c		Conidial length
Strain	CM	PDA	(× 10⁶ spores/mL)^b	≥ 4 Septa	≤ 3 Septa	(μm)^d
PH-1	7.1 ± 0.2	6.0 ± 0.3	1.28 ± 0.05	65.63 ± 2.35	33.18 ± 2.15	53.23 ± 3.13
ΔFgbzip16	2.8 ± 0.3*	2.3 ± 0.1*	0.04 ± 0.01*	18.73 ± 1.24*	79.56 ± 1.83*	33.32 ± 2.17*
Fgbzip16/FgBZIP16	7.0 ± 0.1	6.1 ± 0.1	1.34 ± 0.08	63.12 ± 1.89	34.67 ± 3.65	50.87 ± 3.63

^aColony diameter of the indicated strains on different media after 3 days incubation at 25°C
^bQuantification of the conidial production of the indicated strains from CMC cultures
^cPercentage of the abnormal conidia of the indicated strains
^dMeasurement of the conidial length of the indicated strains
± SD was calculated from three repeated experiments and asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (P < 0.01)