Abstract
Both the establishment of sustainable forestry practices and the improvement of commercially grown trees require better understanding of mechanisms used by forest trees to combat microbial pathogens. We investigated the contribution of a gene encoding Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) antimicrobial protein Sp-AMP2 (PR-19) to the host defenses to evaluate the potential of Sp-AMP genes as molecular markers for resistance breeding. We developed transgenic tobacco plants expressing the Sp-AMP2 gene. Transgenic plants showed a reduction in the size of lesions caused by the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea. In order to investigate Sp-AMP2 gene expression level, four transgenic lines were tested in comparison to control and non-transgenic plants. No Sp-AMP2 transcripts were observed in any of the control and non-transgenic plants tested. The transcript of Sp-AMP2 was abundantly present in all transgenic lines. Sp-AMP2 was induced highly in response to the B. cinerea infection at 3 d.p.i. This study provides an insight into the role of Sp-AMP2 and its functional and ecological significance in the regulation of plant–pathogen interactions.
Highlights
Plants engage an armory of defenses in response to microbial infection and pathogen attack.Invasion of plant tissues by microorganisms causes large-scale rearrangements in host metabolism, which are achieved via orchestrated changes in expression levels of hundreds of genes
The Scots pine Sp-AMP2 complementary DNA (cDNA) under control of a strong promoter was introduced into tobacco
The Scots pine Sp‐AMP2 cDNA under control of a strong promoter was introduced into tobacco (Figure 1)
Summary
Plants engage an armory of defenses in response to microbial infection and pathogen attack.Invasion of plant tissues by microorganisms causes large-scale rearrangements in host metabolism, which are achieved via orchestrated changes in expression levels of hundreds of genes. Plants engage an armory of defenses in response to microbial infection and pathogen attack. Activation of defense responses is mediated by several types of signaling molecules via specific signaling pathways [1]. The best-characterized examples of such signaling molecules are jasmonic acid (JA). The activation of corresponding signaling pathways results in the induction of various plant defensive mechanisms, both physical and chemical. Among others, suberization and reinforcement of cell walls, and formation of wound periderm. Accumulation of induced antimicrobial secondary metabolites collectively known as phytoalexins (terpenoids, tannins, stilbenes, alkaloids, etc.), oxidative burst, and induction of antimicrobial and pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins provide examples of plant chemical defenses [2,3]. Pathogen-inducible defense-related proteins, known as PR proteins, have been reported in many plant species to enhance resistance of plants against microbial pathogens
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