Identification and Expression Analysis of Genes Induced in Response to Tomato chlorosis virus Infection in Tomato

Discovery of Novel Chromone Derivatives Containing a Sulfonamide Moiety as Anti-ToCV Agents through the Tomato Chlorosis Virus Coat Protein-Oriented Screening Method

A number of novel chromone derivatives containing sulfonamide moieties were designed and synthesized, and the activity of compounds against tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) was assessed using the ToCVCP-oriented screening method. Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity index analysis (CoMSIA) models were established based on the dissociation constant (K_d) values of the target compounds, and compound 35 was designed and synthesized with the aid of CoMFA and CoMSIA models. The study of affinity interaction indicated that compound 35 exhibited excellent affinity with ToCVCP with a K_d value of 0.11 μM, which was better than that of the positive control agents xiangcaoliusuobingmi (0.44 μM) and ningnanmycin (0.79 μM). In addition, the in vivo inhibitory effect of compound 35 on the ToCVCP gene was evaluated by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. ToCVCP gene expression levels of the compound 35 treatment group were reduced by 67.2%, which was better than that of the positive control agent ningnanmycin (59.5%). Therefore, compound 35 can be used as a potential anti-ToCV drug in the future.

High throughput sequencing unravels tomato-pathogen interactions towards a sustainable plant breeding

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most economically important vegetables throughout the world. It is one of the best studied cultivated dicotyledonous plants, often used as a model system for plant research into classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, and molecular biology. Tomato plants are affected by different pathogens such as viruses, viroids, fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, and nematodes, that reduce yield and affect product quality. The study of tomato as a plant-pathogen system helps to accelerate the discovery and understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying disease resistance and offers the opportunity of improving the yield and quality of their edible products. The use of functional genomics has contributed to this purpose through both traditional and recently developed techniques, that allow the identification of plant key functional genes in susceptible and resistant responses, and the understanding of the molecular basis of compatible interactions during pathogen attack. Next-generation sequencing technologies (NGS), which produce massive quantities of sequencing data, have greatly accelerated research in biological sciences and offer great opportunities to better understand the molecular networks of plant-pathogen interactions. In this review, we summarize important research that used high-throughput RNA-seq technology to obtain transcriptome changes in tomato plants in response to a wide range of pathogens such as viruses, fungi, bacteria, oomycetes, and nematodes. These findings will facilitate genetic engineering efforts to incorporate new sources of resistance in tomato for protection against pathogens and are of major importance for sustainable plant-disease management, namely the ones relying on the plant's innate immune mechanisms in view of plant breeding.

Integrated Analysis of microRNA and mRNA Transcriptome Reveals the Molecular Mechanism of Solanum lycopersicum Response to Bemisia tabaci and Tomato chlorosis virus

Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV), is one of the most devastating cultivated tomato viruses, seriously threatened the growth of crops worldwide. As the vector of ToCV, the whitefly Bemisia tabaci Mediterranean (MED) is mainly responsible for the rapid spread of ToCV. The current understanding of tomato plant responses to this virus and B. tabaci is very limited. To understand the molecular mechanism of the interaction between tomato, ToCV and B. tabaci, we adopted a next-generation sequencing approach to decipher miRNAs and mRNAs that are differentially expressed under the infection of B. tabaci and ToCV in tomato plants. Our data revealed that 6199 mRNAs were significantly regulated, and the differentially expressed genes were most significantly associated with the plant-pathogen interaction, the MAPK signaling pathway, the glyoxylate, and the carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms and photosynthesis related proteins. Concomitantly, 242 differentially expressed miRNAs were detected, including novel putative miRNAs. Sly-miR159, sly-miR9471b-3p, and sly-miR162 were the most expressed miRNAs in each sample compare to control group. Moreover, we compared the similarities and differences of gene expression in tomato plant caused by infection or co-infection of B. tabaci and ToCV. Taken together, the analysis reported in this article lays a solid foundation for further research on the interaction between tomato, ToCV and B. tabaci, and provide evidence for the identification of potential key genes that influences virus transmission in tomato plants.