The Novel Gene VpPR4-1 from Vitis pseudoreticulata Increases Powdery Mildew Resistance in Transgenic Vitis vinifera L.

Abstract

Pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs) can lead to increased resistance of the whole plant to pathogen attack. Here, we isolate and characterize a PR-4 protein (VpPR4-1) from a wild Chinese grape Vitis pseudoreticulata which shows greatly elevated transcription following powdery mildew infection. Its expression profiles under a number of abiotic stresses were also investigated. Powdery mildew, salicylic acid, and jasmonic acid methyl ester significantly increased the VpPR4-1 induction while NaCl and heat treatments just slightly induced VpPR4-1 expression. Abscisic acid and cold treatment slightly affected the expression level of VpPR4-1. The VpPR4-1 gene was overexpressed in 30 regenerated V. vinifera cv. Red Globe via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation and verified by the Western blot. The 26 transgenic grapevines exhibited higher expression levels of PR-4 protein content than wild-type vines and six of them were inoculated with powdery mildew which showed that the growth of powdery mildew was repressed. The powdery mildew-resistance of Red Globe transformed with VpPR4-1 was enhanced inoculated with powdery mildew. Moreover, other powdery mildew resistant genes were associated with feedback regulation since VpPR4-1 is in abundance. This study demonstrates that PR-4 protein in grapes plays a vital role in defense against powdery mildew invasion.

Overexpression of NPR1 in Brassica juncea Confers Broad Spectrum Resistance to Fungal Pathogens

“…These results suggest that there is a hormonal crosstalk in B. juncea during Alternaria infection which could trigger the expression of NPR1 or SA dependent genes. As expected, transcript levels of BjNPR1 were significantly increased during E. cruciferarum infection as compared to uninfected plants ( Figure 3E ), similar to that observed by Dai et al (2016) . Furthermore, the expression levels of BjNPR1 in powdery mildew infected plants were relatively higher than that of Alternaria infected plants because pathogens causing powdery mildew disease are known as strict biotrophic pathogens which rely on SA pathway ( Oliver and Ipcho, 2004 ).…”

Elucidation of resistance signaling and identification of powdery mildew resistant mapping loci (ClaPMR2) during watermelon-Podosphaera xanthii interaction using RNA-Seq and whole-genome resequencing approach

“…The hydrolases include most of the pathogenesis related (PR) family proteins and are important in context of plant defense response against diverse pathogenic fungi. PR-proteins are glycoside hydrolases with β-glucanase (PR2, PR5) and chitinase activities (PR3, PR4, PR8, PR11) 44 – 48 . We speculate that in watermelon- P. xanthii interactions, the host can either recognize cell components associated with the pathogen (β-1,3-glucan, chitin) activating the pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMP) 49 mediated defense signaling or induce genes related to protein binding in the host cytoplasm, further activating downstream regulatory genes (transcription factors, DNA binding proteins, kinase activity), a process similar to PMAP triggered immunity (PTI) and effector triggered immunity (ETI).…”

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated VvPR4b editing decreases downy mildew resistance in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.)

“…In jelly fig (Ficus awkeotsang Makino), deletion of ChtBD from the Class I FaPR-4 protein does not affect the DNase activity or antifungal function of this protein 9 . In grapevine, transgenic lines overexpressing PR4 showed increased resistance to powdery mildew 10 . Due to the inherent difficulties of transformation in grapevine and other perennial fruit crops, gene functional analyses have generally been limited to transient expression or transgene integration, and targeted gene knockout approaches have rarely been utilized.…”