RNA Extraction and RT-qPCR Protocol

RNA extraction and RT-qPCR were carried out as previously described^{28 (link)}. In brief, all strains were cultivated in liquid GMM supplemented with 5% yeast extract at 37 °C/250 rpm for 18 h. Mycelia were harvested, frozen in liquid nitrogen, and ground using a pestle and mortar. Total RNA was extracted using Qiagen RNeasy Mini Kit following the manufacturer’s protocol. DNA contamination from RNA samples was eliminated by RNase‐free Turbo DNase Kit (Invitrogen). Subsequently, cDNA was synthesized using SuperScript II system (Invitrogen), following the manufacturer’s instructions. Quantitative real-time PCR was carried out using SYBR® Green Master Mix (Bio‐Rad) in a CFX Connect Real‐Time System (Bio‐Rad).