Abstract
Ethylene-responsive factors (ERF) are usually considered to play diverse roles in plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, an ERF gene CaPTI1 was isolated from pepper transcriptome database. CaPTI1 contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 543 bp, which encodes a putative polypeptide of 180 amino acids with a theoretical molecular weight of 20.30 kDa. Results of expression profile showed that CaPTI1 had a highest expression level in roots and this gene could not only response to the infection of Phytophthora capsici and the stresses of cold and drought, but also be induced by the signaling molecule (salicylic acid, Methyl Jasmonate, Ethephon, and hydogen peroxide). Furthermore, virus-induce gene silencing (VIGS) of CaPTI1 in pepper weakened the defense response significantly by reducing the expression of defense related genes CaPR1, CaDEF1 and CaSAR82 and also the root activity. These results suggested that CaPTI1 is involved in the regulation of defense response to P. capsici in pepper.
Highlights
Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is an agriculturally important vegetable crop worldwide
While the production of pepper is severely threatened by a variety of diseases, especially the soil borne disease Phytophthora blight which is caused by Phytophthora capsici (Hausbeck and Lamour, 2004; Granke et al, 2012)
Many studies have revealed that resistance to P. capsici is polygenic and could be controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTL) (Thabuis et al, 2003; Kim et al, 2008; Rehrig et al, 2014), little is known about pepper–P. capsici interactions at the molecular and genetic levels
Summary
Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is an agriculturally important vegetable crop worldwide. While the production of pepper is severely threatened by a variety of diseases, especially the soil borne disease Phytophthora blight which is caused by Phytophthora capsici (Hausbeck and Lamour, 2004; Granke et al, 2012). ERFs were firstly isolated in tobacco and found to regulate the expression of PR genes through binding to the GCC-box (Ohmetakagi and Shinshi, 1995). The ERFs in tomato, Pti, Pti, and Pti which were interacted with the resistance (R) gene Pto kinase were identified by yeast two-hybrid assays (Zhou et al, 1997). Further research found these ERFs could induced by Pseudomonas bacterium and recognize and bind to GCC-box of PR proteins (Thara et al, 1999). An ERF gene, CaPTI1 which was induced by pathogen was isolated from the transcriptome of interactions between pepper and P. capsici. In past most of the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) concentrated in leaves but here we have performed in leaves as well as in roots of pepper to investigate the function of CaPTI1 gene
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