NBR1a mediates root-knot nematode resistance by modulating antioxidant system, jasmonic acid and selective autophagy in Solanum lycopersicum
Ting Yang,
Weiduo Jin,
Jinping Zou,
Xinlin Chen,
Qiufeng Zhao,
Jingquan Yu,
Jie Zhou
Affiliations
Ting Yang
Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China
Weiduo Jin
Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China
Jinping Zou
Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China
Xinlin Chen
Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China
Qiufeng Zhao
Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China
Jingquan Yu
Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China; Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plants Growth, Development and Quality Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China
Jie Zhou
Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China; Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plants Growth, Development and Quality Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China; Corresponding author at: Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Root-knot nematodes (RKNs; Meloidogyne incognita) are recognized as the most destructive plant pathogenic nematodes, posing a significant threat to global food security. Selective autophagy, a conserved process for degrading and recycling cellular components, plays an essential role in the growth, development, and immune response of eukaryotes. The established role of selective autophagy receptors in plant responses to diverse stresses is well recognized, however, their precise functions in plant defense against RKN infection remain largely unexplored. This study investigates the response of nine selective autophagy receptors in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) to RKN infection. Notably, the relative expression of NBR1a, PUX7a and ATI3d showed significant induction. NBR1a-silenced plants and nbr1a mutants both exhibited heightened sensitivity to RKN compared to the pTRV control and wild-type (WT) plants, while silencing of PUX7a and ATI3d genes did not exhibit increased sensitivity to RKN compared to the pTRV control plants. Furthermore, antioxidant enzyme activity, jasmonic acid (JA), as well as the number of autophagosomes and autophagic vesicles in root tip cells, did not exhibit significant induction in the nbr1a mutant upon RKN infection, in contrast to WT plants. These findings strongly suggest that the selective autophagy receptor NBR1a enhances tomato resistance against RKNs by modulating the antioxidant system, JA and selective autophagy.
