2'-Deoxyuridine-promoted infection in Pyricularia oryzae is counteracted by bacterial thymidine phosphorylase

Successful infection by the rice blast fungus Pyricularia oryzae depends on precise developmental transitions on the plant surface, yet the extracellular metabolites that regulate these events remain poorly understood. One such metabolite, 2'-deoxyuridine (dU), has been identified as a self-produced infection-promoting factor, but its mode of action has remained unclear. Exogenous dU did not significantly affect conidial germination but accelerated early appressorium initiation and promoted appressorium maturation, as indicated by increased glycogen mobilization and elevated intracellular turgor. Extracellular dU was detected during early infection-related development, indicating that dU accumulates under conditions conducive to appressorium formation. To test whether microbial turnover of dU influences pathogenicity, dU-degrading bacteria were isolated from rice field environments, and Enterobacter sp. strain C3 was identified as the most active isolate. Biochemical and structural analyses identified the responsible enzyme as the thymidine phosphorylase DeoA, which converts dU to uracil in a phosphate-dependent reaction. Recombinant DeoA reproduced this activity in vitro, and enzymatic depletion of dU attenuated invasive hyphal growth and lesion development. Appressorium-specific expression of deoA in P. oryzae likewise reduced pathogenicity. Together, these results identify extracellular dU as a factor promoting infection-related development in P. oryzae and suggest that dU degradation provides a potential approach for the biological control of rice blast disease. IMPORTANCESuccessful infection by the rice blast fungus Pyricularia oryzae depends on tightly regulated developmental changes on the plant surface. This study identifies 2'-deoxyuridine as an extracellular molecule that helps drive these early infection events. The fungus-derived nucleoside promoted appressorium formation and maturation, accumulated during early infection-related development, and could be targeted for disease suppression. A rice field bacterium, Enterobacter sp. strain C3, and its enzyme DeoA efficiently degraded 2'-deoxyuridine, and this depletion reduced fungal invasion and disease development. These findings uncover a previously unrecognized extracellular signal associated with infection-related development in the rice blast fungus and point to metabolite degradation by environmental microbes as a promising route for biological control.