| Summary: | <i>Phytophthora sojae</i> is a destructive soybean pathogen that orchestrates various secreted proteins (effectors) to modulate plant immunity and facilitate infection. Although a number of effectors have been identified and functionally studied in <i>P. sojae</i>, the way these molecules are regulated is marginally known. In this study, we performed a weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA) based on digital RNA-seq, which enabled the identification of a transcription factor (PsCZF3) in <i>P. sojae</i>. This transcription factor is a C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub>-type zinc finger protein that regulates the transcription of 35 RxLR effectors during the early infection stage. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that PsCZF3 is a highly conserved protein across oomycetes, suggesting that this regulation mechanism may broadly exist in oomycete species. In addition, by building a subnetwork of <i>PsCZF3</i> and correlated genes, we also found that PsCZF3 contributed to the transcriptional regulation of carbohydrate-active enzymes. Our findings suggest that the activation of <i>PsCZF3</i> facilitates <i>P. sojae</i> infection by up-regulating RxLR effectors and carbohydrate-active enzymes.
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