Heterologous Expression of the Cotton NBS-LRR Gene GbaNA1 Enhances Verticillium Wilt Resistance in Arabidopsis

Nan-Yang Li; Lei Zhou; Dan-Dan Zhang; Steven J. Klosterman; Ting-Gang Li; Yue-Jing Gui; Zhi-Qiang Kong; Xue-Feng Ma; Dylan P. G. Short; Wen-Qi Zhang; Jun-Jiao Li; Krishna V. Subbarao; Jie-Yin Chen; Xiao-Feng Dai

doi:10.3389/fpls.2018.00119

Frontiers in Plant Science (Feb 2018)

Heterologous Expression of the Cotton NBS-LRR Gene GbaNA1 Enhances Verticillium Wilt Resistance in Arabidopsis

Nan-Yang Li,
Lei Zhou,
Dan-Dan Zhang,
Steven J. Klosterman,
Ting-Gang Li,
Yue-Jing Gui,
Zhi-Qiang Kong,
Xue-Feng Ma,
Dylan P. G. Short,
Wen-Qi Zhang,
Jun-Jiao Li,
Krishna V. Subbarao,
Jie-Yin Chen,
Xiao-Feng Dai

Affiliations

Nan-Yang Li: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Lei Zhou: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Dan-Dan Zhang: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Steven J. Klosterman: Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Salinas, CA, United States
Ting-Gang Li: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Yue-Jing Gui: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Zhi-Qiang Kong: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Xue-Feng Ma: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Dylan P. G. Short: Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
Wen-Qi Zhang: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Jun-Jiao Li: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Krishna V. Subbarao: Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
Jie-Yin Chen: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
Xiao-Feng Dai: Laboratory of Cotton Disease, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, c/o Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00119
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9

Abstract

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Verticillium wilt caused by Verticillium dahliae results in severe losses in cotton, and is economically the most destructive disease of this crop. Improving genetic resistance is the cleanest and least expensive option to manage Verticillium wilt. Previously, we identified the island cotton NBS-LRR-encoding gene GbaNA1 that confers resistance to the highly virulent V. dahliae isolate Vd991. In this study, we expressed cotton GbaNA1 in the heterologous system of Arabidopsis thaliana and investigated the defense response mediated by GbaNA1 following inoculations with V. dahliae. Heterologous expression of GbaNA1 conferred Verticillium wilt resistance in A. thaliana. Moreover, overexpression of GbaNA1 enabled recovery of the resistance phenotype of A. thaliana mutants that had lost the function of GbaNA1 ortholog gene. Investigations of the defense response in A. thaliana showed that the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the expression of genes associated with the ethylene signaling pathway were enhanced significantly following overexpression of GbaNA1. Intriguingly, overexpression of the GbaNA1 ortholog from Gossypium hirsutum (GhNA1) in A. thaliana did not induce the defense response of ROS production due to the premature termination of GhNA1, which lacks the encoded NB-ARC and LRR motifs. GbaNA1 therefore confers Verticillium wilt resistance in A. thaliana by the activation of ROS production and ethylene signaling. These results demonstrate the functional conservation of the NBS-LRR-encoding GbaNA1 in a heterologous system, and the mechanism of this resistance, both of which may prove valuable in incorporating GbaNA1-mediated resistance into other plant species.

Published in Frontiers in Plant Science

ISSN: 1664-462X (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Agriculture: Plant culture
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science

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