Fig. 7

Autophagic homeostasis is critical for fungal growth, microbial competition, and virulence in F. graminearum. a Colony morphology of PH-1, Δatg8, and Δatg8-C and substitution mutant Atg8^K13R on CM, minimal medium (MM), and CM supplemented with rapamycin. The inoculated plates were imaged after 3 days of incubation. b Fungal sensitivity towards biocontrol bacterial strains S. hygroscopicus S89, Bacillus altitudinis Ba108, and Pseudomonas chlororaphis ZJU60. The dual culture plates were incubated at 25 °C for 6 days until the radius of inhibition zone did not change. c Radius of inhibition zone in (b). d Virulence of indicated strains on wheat heads. Infected wheat heads were examined at the 15th day post inoculation. The inoculated site on each wheat head was labeled with a black dot. e The deoxynivalenol (DON) production of WT, Δatg8 and Atg8^K13R at the 7th day post incubation in the toxin-inducing (TBI) medium. Line bars indicate standard deviations of three repeated experiments. The same letter on the bars indicates no significant difference according to the LSD test at P = 0.01