Glycerol generates turgor in rice blast

Many plant pathogenic fungi are able to penetrate the cuticles of their host plants by elaborating specialized cells known as appressoria1,2. The morphology and development of appressoria have been well studied2, but little is known about how these cells are able to breach the tough plant surface. We have now found that the appressoria of rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea) use glycerol to generate pressure which ruptures plant cuticles.