Abstract
Verticillium wilt (VW) is a destructive disease in cotton caused by Verticillium dahliae and has a significant impact on yield and quality. In the absence of safe and effective chemical control, VW is difficult to manage. Thus, at present, developing resistant varieties is the most economical and effective method of controlling Verticillium wilt of cotton. The CC-NBS-LRR (CNL) gene family is an important class of plant genes involved in disease resistance. This study identified 141 GbCNLs in Gossypium barbadense genome, with 37.5% (53 genes) GbCNLs enriched in 12 gene clusters (GC01–GC12) based on gene distribution in the chromosomes. Especially, seven GbCNLs from two largest clusters (GC11 and GC12) were significantly upregulated in the resistant cultivar (Hai No. 7124) and the susceptible (Giza No. 57). Virus-induced gene silencing of GbCNL130 in G. barbadense, one typical gene in the gene cluster 12 (GC12), significantly altered the response to VW, compromising plant resistance to V. dahliae. In contrast, GbCNL130 overexpression significantly increased the resistance to VW in the wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana. Based on our research findings presented here, we conclude that GbCNL130 promotes resistance to VW by activating the salicylic acid (SA)-dependent defense response pathway resulting in strong accumulation of reactive oxygen species and upregulation of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes. In conclusion, our study resulted in the discovery of a new CNL resistance gene in cotton, GbCNL130, that confers resistance to VW across different hosts.
Highlights
IntroductionThey rely on their immune system to resist infection from numerous pathogens (Zhou et al, 2017)
Plants are often exposed to various pathogens in the course of their existence
Two gene clusters, GC11 and gene cluster 12 (GC12), had linkage characteristics on D11 chromosomes, and both contained eight GbCNLs (GbCNL119–GbCNL126 and GbCNL127–GbCNL134). These results suggest that the G. barbadense genome may encode for a large number of CNL family proteins, with characteristics of gene clusters enrichments
Summary
They rely on their immune system to resist infection from numerous pathogens (Zhou et al, 2017). Besides the natural barriers to prevent pathogen infection, such as epidermal villi, waxy layers, and cuticles, plants rely on two highly efficient inducible defense systems (Jones and Dangl, 2006). PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) is the first layer of the plant defense. When adaptive pathogens suppress or bypass the PTI immune response through the secretion of virulent effectors, plants activate the second layer of the defense, effector-triggered immunity (ETI), to counter the pathogen infection (Césari et al, 2014). ETI-mediated immune response is overcome by the pathogens due to rapid evolution of new effectors to counter the increased host resistance (Yu et al, 2014). Identifying plant resistance genes provides a basis to investigate disease resistance mechanisms and deploy candidate genes to develop disease-resistant crop varieties
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