NaPDR1 and NaPDR1-like are essential for the resistance of Nicotiana attenuata against fungal pathogen Alternaria alternata

NaMLP, a new identified Kunitz trypsin inhibitor regulated synergistically by JA and ethylene, confers Spodoptera litura resistance in Nicotiana attenuata

We identified a miraculin-like protein (NaMLP) who is a new Kunitz trypsin inhibitor regulated synergistically by JA and ethylene signals and confers Spodoptera litura resistance in wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata. The findings revealed a new source of trypsin inhibitor activities after herbivory, and provide new insights into the complexity of the regulation of trypsin inhibitor-based defense after insect herbivore attack. Upon insect herbivore attack, wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata accumulates trypsin protease inhibitor (TPI) activities as a defense response from different protease inhibitor (PI) coding genes, including WRKY3-regulated NaKTI2, and JA-dependent NaPI. However, whether any other TPI gene exists in N. attenuata is still unclear. A miraculin-like protein gene (NaMLP) was highly up-regulated in N. attenuata after Alternaria alternata infection. However, silencing or overexpression of NaMLP had no effect on the lesion diameter developed on N. attenuata leaves after A. alternata inoculation. Meanwhile, the transcripts of NaMLP could be induced by wounding and amplified by Spodoptera litura oral secretions (OS). S. litura larvae gained significantly more biomass on NaMLP-silenced plants but less on NaMLP overexpressed plants. Although NaMLP showed low sequence similarity to NaKTI2, it had conserved reaction sites of Kunitz trypsin inhibitors, and exhibited TPI activities when its coding gene was overexpressed transiently or stably in N. attenuata. This was consistent with the worst performance of S. litura larvae on NaMLP overexpressed lines. Furthermore, NaMLP-silenced plants had reduced TPI activities and better S. litura performance. Finally, OS-elicited NaMLP was dramatically reduced in JA-deficient AOC silencing and ethylene-reduced ACO-silencing plants, and the expression of NaMLP could be significantly induced by methyl jasmonate or ethephon alone, but dramatically amplified by co-treatment of both methyl jasmonate and ethephon. Thus, our results demonstrate that in addition to JA-regulated NaPI, and WRKY3/6-dependent NaKTI2, N. attenuata plants also up-regulates TPI activities via NaMLP, which confers S. litura resistance through JA and ethylene signaling pathways in a synergistic way.

The regulation of Alternaria alternata resistance by LRR-RK4 through ERF109, defensin19 and phytoalexin scopoletin in Nicotiana attenuata

Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RKs), belonging to the largest subfamily of transmembrane receptor-like kinases in plants, are proposed to be involved in pathogen resistance. However, it is currently unknown whether LRR-RKs regulate Nicotiana attenuata resistance to Alternaria alternata, a notorious fungal pathogen causing tobacco brown disease. During transcriptome analysis, we identified a highly induced receptor kinase (NaLRR-RK4) in N. attenuata leaves after A. alternata inoculation. We speculated that this NaLRR-RK4 might be the resistance gene of tobacco to brown spot disease, and if so, what is its function and mechanism of action? Silencing of NaLRR-RK4 via virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) lead to plants highly susceptible to A. alternata, and this result was further confirmed by two stable transformation lines (NaLRR-RK4-RNAi lines) generated by RNA interference technology. The susceptible of NaLRR-RK4-RNAi lines to A. alternata was associated with reduced levels of phytoalexin scopoletin and its key synthesis gene NaF6'H1. Further transcriptome analysis of leaves of WT and NaLRR-RK4-RNAi line after A. alternata inoculation revealed that NaLRR-RK4 regulated NaERF109 and NaDEF19. Silencing NaERF109 or NaDEF19 by VIGS lead to plants more susceptible to A.alternata, demonstrating their role in pathogen resistance. Interestingly, A.alternata-induced expression of NaF6'H1 and NaDEF19 were dramatically reduced in NaERF109-silenced VIGS plants. Taken all together, we identified LRR-RK4 as the first Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases involved in A.alternata resistance in tobacco species, by regulating NaERF109, and subsequently NaDEF19 and NaF6'H1.

2021 update on ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters: how they meet the needs of plants

Recent developments in the field of ABC proteins including newly identified functions and regulatory mechanisms expand the understanding of how they function in the development and physiology of plants.

Involvement of NAC transcription factor NaNAC29 in Alternaria alternata resistance and leaf senescence in Nicotiana attenuata

NAC-LIKE, ACTIVATED BY AP3/PI (NAP) is a NAC transcription factor regulating leaf senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana. In wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata, a nuclear localized NAC transcription factor NaNAC29 was identified to be highly elicited after inoculation of Alternaria alternata, a notorious necrotic fungus on tobacco species. The NaNAC29 possesses similar tertiary structure to NAP with 60% amino acid identity. However, it remains unknown the role of NaNAC29 in plant defense responses to A. alternata and leaf senescence in N. attenuata. In this paper, Defensin-like protein 1 (NaDLP1) was highly induced in N. attenuata after A. alternata inoculation and bigger lesions were developed in NaDLP1-silenced plants. Interestingly, A. alternata-induced NaDLP1 was reduced by 76% in VIGS NaNAC29 plants and by 61% in JA deficient irAOC plants at 3 days post inoculation. The regulation of NaDLP1 expression by NaNAC29 was clearly independent on JA pathway, since exogenous methyl jasmonate treatment could not complement the induction levels of NaDLP1 in NaNAC29-silenced plants to the levels in WT plants. Otherwise, the expression of NaNAC29 was low expressed in young leaves but highly in senescent leaves and dark-treated leaves. NaNAC29-silenced plants, which were generated by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS NaNAC29), showed delayed senescence phenotype. In addition, constitutive over-expression of NaNAC29 in A. thaliana could rescue the delayed-senescence phenotype of nap and caused precocious leaf senescence of wild-type Col-0 plants. All the data above demonstrate that NaNAC29 is a NAP homolog in N. attenuata participating in the defense responses to A. alternata by regulation of a defensin protein NaDLP1 and promoting leaf senescence.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of Rheum australe, an endangered medicinal herb, growing in its natural habitat and those grown in controlled growth chambers

Rheum australe is an endangered medicinal herb of high altitude alpine region of Himalayas and is known to possess anti-cancerous properties. Unlike many herbs of the region, R. australe has broad leaves. The species thrives well under the environmental extremes in its niche habitat, therefore an understanding of transcriptome of R. australe to environmental cues was of significance. Since, temperature is one of the major environmental variables in the niche of R. australe, transcriptome was studied in the species growing in natural habitat and those grown in growth chambers maintained at 4 °C and 25 °C to understand genes associated with different temperatures. A total of 39,136 primarily assembled transcripts were obtained from 10,17,74,336 clean read, and 21,303 unigenes could match to public databases. An analysis of transcriptome by fragments per kilobase of transcript per million, followed by validation through qRT-PCR showed 22.4% up- and 22.5% down-regulated common differentially expressed genes in the species growing under natural habitat and at 4 °C as compared to those at 25 °C. These genes largely belonged to signaling pathway, transporters, secondary metabolites, phytohormones, and those associated with cellular protection, suggesting their importance in imparting adaptive advantage to R. australe in its niche.

NaKTI2, a Kunitz trypsin inhibitor transcriptionally regulated by NaWRKY3 and NaWRKY6, is required for herbivore resistance in Nicotiana attenuata

KEY MESSAGE

Here, we reported that a pathogen- and herbivore-induced Kunitz trypsin inhibitor gene, NaKTI2, is required for herbivore resistance, and transcriptionally regulated mainly by NaWRKY3 and NaWRKY6 but not Jasmonate signaling. Plant protease inhibitor (PI) occurs widely in plant species, and is considered as an important part of plant defense arsenal against herbivores. Transcriptome analysis of Nicotiana attenuata leaves revealed that a Kunitz trypsin inhibitor gene, NaKTI2, was highly elicited after inoculation of Alternaria alternata (tobacco pathotype). However, the roles of NaKTI2 in pathogen- and herbivore resistance and its regulation were unclear. NaKTI2 had typical domains of Kunitz trypsin inhibitors and exhibited a high level of trypsin protease inhibitor activities when transiently over-expressed. The transcripts of NaKTI2 could be induced by A. alternata and Spodoptera litura oral secretions (OS). Silencing NaKTI2 via virus-induced gene silencing technique has no influence on lesion diameters developed on N. attenuata leaves after A. alternata inoculation, but S. litura larvae gained more mass and had higher survivorship on NaKTI2-silenced plants. Meanwhile, the expression of NaPI, a PI gene essential for herbivore resistance previously identified in N. attenuata, was not affected in NaKTI2-silenced plants. Unlike NaPI, which was predominantly regulated by jasmonate (JA) signaling, OS-elicited NaKTI2 transcripts were only slightly reduced in JA-deficient plants, but were dramatically decreased in NaWRKY3- and NaWRKY6- silenced plants, respectively. Further electromobility shift assays indicated that NaWRKY3 and NaWRKY6 could directly bind to the promoter regions of NaKTI2 in vitro. Taken together, our results demonstrate that in addition to NaPI, NaKTI2, a pathogen- and herbivore-induced Kunitz trypsin inhibitor gene, is also required for herbivore resistance, and mainly regulated by NaWRKY3 and NaWRKY6.

An ERF2-like transcription factor regulates production of the defense sesquiterpene capsidiol upon Alternaria alternata infection

Capsidiol is a sesquiterpenoid phytoalexin produced in Nicotiana and Capsicum species in response to pathogen attack. Whether capsidiol plays a defensive role and how its biosynthesis is regulated in the wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata when the plant is attacked by Alternaria alternata (tobacco pathotype), a notorious necrotrophic fungus causing brown spot disease, are unknown. Transcriptome analysis indicated that a metabolic switch to sesquiterpene biosynthesis occurred in young leaves of N. attenuata after A. alternata inoculation: many genes leading to sesquiterpene production were strongly up-regulated, including the capsidiol biosynthetic genes 5-epi-aristolochene synthase (EAS) and 5-epi-aristolochene hydroxylase (EAH). Consistently, the level of capsidiol was increased dramatically in young leaves after fungal inoculation, from not detectable in mock control to 50.68±3.10 µg g-1 fresh leaf at 3 d post-inoculation. Capsidiol-reduced or capsidiol-depleted plants, which were generated by silencing EAHs or EASs by virus-induced gene silencing, were more susceptible to the fungus. In addition, this sesquiterpene when purified from infected plants exhibited strong anti-fungal activities against A. alternata in vitro. Furthermore, an ERF2-like transcription factor was found to positively regulate capsidiol production and plant resistance through the direct transactivation of a capsidiol biosynthetic gene, EAS12. Taken together, our results demonstrate that capsidiol, a phytoalexin highly accumulated in N. attenuata plants in response to A. alternata infection, plays an important role in pathogen resistance independent of jasmonate and ethylene signaling pathways, and its biosynthesis is transcriptionally regulated by an ERF2-like transcription factor.

IRE1-bZIP60 Pathway Is Required for Nicotiana attenuata Resistance to Fungal Pathogen Alternaria alternata

As an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress sensor, inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) splices the bZIP60 mRNA, and produces an active bZIP60 transcription factor that regulates genes involved in the unfolded protein response (UPR) during ER stresses. This IRE1-bZIP60 pathway is conserved in plant species and recently implicated in plant-pathogen interaction. However, it is unclear whether this IRE1-bZIP60 pathway is involved in Nicotiana attenuata resistance to necrotic fungal pathogen, Alternaria alternata. In this study, transcriptional levels of chaperone protein genes, including luminal binding protein (BiP), protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), calnexin 1-like (CNX 1-like), and calreticulin (CRT), and genes involved in IRE1-bZIP60 pathway, were all significantly induced in N. attenuata leaves after A. alternata inoculation. Silencing IRE1 or bZIP60 led to N. attenuata plants more susceptible to A. alternata, which were associated with reduced gene expressions of Feruloyl-CoA 6'-hydroxylase 1 (F6'H1), a gene encoding a key enzyme for phytoalexin scopoletin and scopolin biosynthesis. Further, electromobility shift assays (EMSA) indicated that bZIP60 protein of spliced form could directly bind to the promoter region of F6'H1 in vitro. JA signaling pathway is required for N. attenuata resistance to A. alternata. Interestingly, the fungus-elicited transcriptional levels of BiP, PDI, CNX 1-like, CRT, IRE1, and bZIP60(s) were all significantly decreased in JA-deficient or JA-insensitive plants. Meanwhile, those genes were significantly induced by methyl jasmonate (MeJA) when applied exogenously. However, the transcriptional levels of JA-regulated genes allene oxide synthase (AOS) and lipoxygenease 3 (LOX3) were not affected in plants impaired with IRE1-bZIP60 pathway. Thus, it is concluded that IRE1-bZIP60 pathway is required for N. attenuata resistance to A. alternata, and JA signaling pathway plays an important role in the elicitation of chaperone protein genes and IRE1-bZIP60 pathway.

A patatin-like protein synergistically regulated by jasmonate and ethylene signaling pathways plays a negative role in Nicotiana attenuata resistance to Alternaria alternata

Although patatin was initially identified as a major storage protein in potato tubers, patatin-like proteins (PLPs) have been recently reported to be widely present in many plant species and shown to be involved in plant-pathogen interactions. However, it is not clear whether PLPs are involved in Nicotiana attenuata resistance against the necrotrophic fungal pathogen, Alternaria alternata. In this study we identified a NaPLP gene, whose expression was highly elicited by A. alternata inoculation. Silencing NaPLP enhanced N. attenuata resistance to A. alternata, which was associated with higher induction levels of JA and ethylene biosynthetic genes, NaACS1, NaACO1 and NaLOX3. The induction of NaPLP expression by the fungus was abolished in JA-deficient plants and significantly reduced in ethylene-insensitive plants. In addition, NaPLP transcripts were highly induced by exogenous treatment with either methyl jasmonate (MeJA) or ethephon. Co-treatment with MeJA and ethephon led to a much higher induction level of NaPLP transcripts, and this synergistic induction was largely dependent on endogenous JA and ethylene signaling pathways. Thus, we conclude that the NaPLP gene is elicited by A. alternata via JA and ethylene signaling pathways in a synergistic way; however, unlike other JA- and ethylene-induced defense genes, NaPLP negatively affects plant resistance to the fungus likely by suppressing JA and ethylene biosynthetic gene expression.