Positive regulatory role of sound vibration treatment in Arabidopsis thaliana against Botrytis cinerea infection

Abstract

Sound vibration (SV), a mechanical stimulus, can trigger various molecular and physiological changes in plants like gene expression, hormonal modulation, induced antioxidant activity and calcium spiking. It also alters the seed germination and growth of plants. In this study, we investigated the effects of SV on the resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana against Botrytis cinerea infection. The microarray analysis was performed on infected Arabidopsis plants pre-exposed to SV of 1000 Hertz with 100 decibels. Broadly, the transcriptomic analysis revealed up-regulation of several defense and SA-responsive and/or signaling genes. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of selected genes also validated the induction of SA-mediated response in the infected Arabidopsis plants pre-exposed to SV. Corroboratively, hormonal analysis identified the increased concentration of salicylic acid (SA) in the SV-treated plants after pathogen inoculation. In contrast, jasmonic acid (JA) level in the SV-treated plants remained stable but lower than control plants during the infection. Based on these findings, we propose that SV treatment invigorates the plant defense system by regulating the SA-mediated priming effect, consequently promoting the SV-induced resistance in Arabidopsis against B. cinerea.

Proteomic Changes in the Sound Vibration-Treated Arabidopsis thaliana Facilitates Defense Response during Botrytis cinerea Infection

“…Our previous GO analysis of transcriptomics data also revealed that differentially expressed genes in the SV-infected plants were enriched with various primary metabolic processes (Choi et al, 2017). For example, the upregulated genes at 12 hpi in the SV-infected plants were enriched with redox homeostasis (GO:0045454) function.…”

“…In our previous study, we observed significant differences in disease level between SV-infected and non-SV–infected plants at 72 hpi, i.e ., non-SV–infected plants had more senescent leaves than SV-infected plants (Choi et al, 2017). We observed similar results in the present study.…”

“…Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia-0) plants were treated with SV and inoculated with Botrytis cinerea as previously described by Choi et al (Choi et al, 2017). Arabidopsis plants were grown under continuous light (150 μmol/m 2 /s) in a growth room at 23 ± 1°C.…”

“…Therefore, it is important to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms for SV-mediated priming and improved stress tolerance. In this regard, our previous study revealed that 1,000 Hz SV at 100 dB can enhance Arabidopsis resistance against Botrytis cinerea (Choi et al, 2017). Additionally, the transcriptomic and hormone analyses revealed that SV-treated Arabidopsis plants delayed the infection process against Botrytis through SA- and systemic acquired resistance-mediated pathways (Choi et al, 2017).…”

“…To achieve this, plants need to channelize their resources for effective production and redistribution of energy. It is pertinent to mention that in our previous work many differentially expressed genes related to primary and secondary metabolism were identified in the SV-treated Arabidopsis during Botrytis infection (Choi et al, 2017). However, gene expression states could not always correlate with the protein expression.…”