Abstract

Abstract Sugarcane smut fungus Sporisorium scitamineum produces polyamines putrescine (PUT), spermidine (SPD), and spermine (SPM) to regulate sexual mating/filamentous growth critical for pathogenicity. Besides de novo biosynthesis, intracellular levels of polyamines could also be modulated by oxidation. In this study, we identified two annotated polyamine oxidation enzymes (SsPAO and SsCuAO1) in S. scitamineum . Compared to the wild type ( MAT‐1 ), the ss1pao Δ and ss1cuao1 Δ mutants were defective in sporidia growth, sexual mating/filamentation, and pathogenicity. The addition of a low concentration of cAMP (0.1 mM) could partially or fully restore filamentation of ss1pao Δ × ss2pao Δ or ss1cuao1 Δ × ss2cuao1 Δ. cAMP biosynthesis and hydrolysis genes were differentially expressed in the ss1pao Δ × ss2pao Δ or ss1cuao1 Δ × ss2cuao1 Δ cultures, further supporting that SsPAO‐ or SsCuAO1‐based polyamine homeostasis regulates S. scitamineum filamentation by affecting the cAMP/PKA signalling pathway. During early infection, PUT promotes, while SPD inhibits, the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in sugarcane, therefore modulating redox homeostasis at the smut fungus–sugarcane interface. Autophagy induction was found to be enhanced in the ss1pao Δ mutant and reduced in the ss1cuao1 Δ mutant. Exogenous addition of cAMP, PUT, SPD, or SPM at low concentration promoted autophagy activity under a non‐inductive condition (rich medium), suggesting a cross‐talk between polyamines and cAMP signalling in regulating autophagy in S. scitamineum . Overall, our work proves that SsPAO‐ and SsCuAO1‐mediated intracellular polyamines affect intracellular redox balance and thus play a role in growth, sexual mating/filamentation, and pathogenicity of S. scitamineum .