A review of the pathogenicity mechanism of Verticillium dahliae in cotton

Abstract Verticillium wilt, caused by the notorious fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae , is one of the main limiting factors for cotton production. Due to the stable dormant structure microsclerotia, long-term variability and co-evolution with host plant, its pathogenicity mechanism is very complicated, and the interaction mechanism between pathogen and host plant is also unclear. So identification and functional analysis of the genes involved in the pathogenicity or virulence of this fungus will benefit to uncover the molecular pathogenic mechanism of V. dahliae . In this review, many multifunction genes covering microsclerotia development, pathogen infection, effector proteins, transcription factors, horizontal gene transfer and trans-kingdom RNA silencing have been summarized to provide a theoretical basis to deep understand the molecular pathogenicity mechanism of V. dahliae and promote to effectively control Verticillium wilt. Furtherly, these pathogenicity-related genes may be considered as targets for effective control of Verticillium wilt in cotton.