Differential roles of salicylic acid and glutathione in resistance of tobacco to tobacco mosaic virus and tobacco necrosis virus

Earlier studies showed that the artificial elevation of endogenous glutathione (GSH) contents can markedly increase the resistance of plants against different viruses. On the other hand, salicylic acid (SA)-deficient NahG plants display enhanced susceptibility to viral infections. In the present study, the biochemical mechanisms underlying GSH-induced resistance were investigated in various tobacco biotypes displaying markedly different GSH and SA levels. The endogenous GSH levels of Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi NN and N. tabacum cv. Xanthi NN NahG tobacco leaves were increased by infiltration of exogenous GSH or its synthetic precursor R-2-oxo-4-thiazolidine-carboxylic acid (OTC). Alternatively, we also used tobacco lines containing high GSH levels due to transgenes encoding critical enzymes for cysteine and GSH biosynthesis. We crossed Xanthi NN and NahG tobaccos with the GSH overproducer transgenic tobacco lines in order to obtain F1 progenies with increased levels of GSH and decreased levels of SA. We demonstrated that in SA-deficient NahG tobacco the elevation of in planta GSH and GSSG levels either by exogenous GSH or by crossing with glutathione overproducing plants confers enhanced resistance to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) manifested as both reduced symptoms (i.e. suppression of hypersensitive-type localized necrosis) and lower virus titers. The beneficial effects of elevated GSH on TMV resistance was markedly stronger in NahG than in Xanthi NN leaves. Infiltration of exogenous GSH and OTC or crossing with GSH overproducer tobacco lines resulted in a substantial rise of bound SA and to a lesser extent of free SA levels in tobacco, especially following TMV infection. Significant increases in expression of pathogenesis related (NtPR-1a, and NtPRB-1b), and glutathione S-transferase (NtGSTtau, and NtGSTphi) genes were evident in TMV-inoculated leaves in later stages of pathogenesis. However, the highest levels of defense gene expression were associated with SA-deficiency, rather than enhanced TMV resistance. In summary, elevated levels of glutathione in TMV-infected tobacco can compensate for SA deficiency to maintain virus resistance. Our results suggest that glutathione-induced redox changes are important components of antiviral signaling in tobacco.

Systemic induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins in tobacco, which occurs during the hypersensitive response to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), may be caused by a minimum 10-fold systemic increase in endogenous levels of salicylic acid (SA). This rise in SA parallels PR-1 protein induction and occurs in TMV-resistant Xanthi-nc tobacco carrying the N gene, but not in TMV-susceptible (nn) tobacco. By feeding SA to excised leaves of Xanthi-nc (NN) tobacco, we have shown that the observed increase in endogenous SA levels is sufficient for the systemic induction of PR-1 proteins. TMV infection became systemic and Xanthi-nc plants failed to accumulate PR-1 proteins at 32 degrees C. This loss of hypersensitive response at high temperature was associated with an inability to accumulate SA. However, spraying leaves with SA induced PR-1 proteins at both 24 and 32 degrees C. SA is most likely exported from the primary site of infection to the uninfected tissues. A computer model predicts that SA should move rapidly in phloem. When leaves of Xanthi-nc tobacco were excised 24 hr after TMV inoculation and exudates from the cut petioles were collected, the increase in endogenous SA in TMV-inoculated leaves paralleled SA levels in exudates. Exudation and leaf accumulation of SA were proportional to TMV concentration and were higher in light than in darkness. Different components of TMV were compared for their ability to induce SA accumulation and exudation: three different aggregation states of coat protein failed to induce SA, but unencapsidated viral RNA elicited SA accumulation in leaves and phloem. These results further support the hypothesis that SA acts as an endogenous signal that triggers local and systemic induction of PR-1 proteins and, possibly, some components of systemic acquired resistance in NN tobacco.

Phenylpropanoid compounds and disease resistance in transgenic tobacco with altered expression of l-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase

Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) cultivars possessing the N resistance gene to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) induce a hypersensitive response, which is accompanied by the production of phytohormones such as salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA), to enclose the invaded virus at the initial site of infection, which inhibits viral multiplication and spread. SA functions as a positive regulator of TMV resistance. However, the role of JA in TMV resistance has not been fully elucidated. Exogenously applied methyl jasmonate, a methyl ester of JA, reduced local resistance to TMV and permitted systemic viral movement. Furthermore, in contrast to a previous finding, we demonstrated that silencing of CORONATINE-INSENSITIVE 1 (COI1), a JA receptor, reduced viral accumulation in a tobacco cultivar possessing the N gene, as did that of allene oxide synthase, a JA biosynthetic enzyme. The reduction in viral accumulation in COI1-silenced tobacco plants was correlated with an increase in SA, and lowering SA levels by introducing an SA hydroxylase gene attenuated this reduction. Viral susceptibility did not change in a COI1-silenced tobacco cultivar lacking the N gene. These results suggest that JA signaling is not directly responsible for susceptibility to TMV, but is indirectly responsible for viral resistance through the partial inhibition of SA-mediated resistance conferred by the N gene, and that a balance between endogenous JA and SA levels is important for determining the degree of resistance.

Editorial: Salicylic Acid Signaling Networks

Near-isogenic lines of cigar wrapper tobacco resistant or susceptible to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) were used to evaluate the association of TMV infection with green spot symptoms in cured leaves. TMV infection, as determined by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), was detected on susceptible but not resistant plants in field experiments. Green spot severity on cured leaves was greater for susceptible than resistant plants, even when symptoms of TMV were not evident in the field. Some green spots were present on resistant leaves despite the fact that the virus was not detected by ELISA. Resistant and susceptible plants had similar responses to virus infection and similar ELISA detection of TMV when plants were held at continuous temperatures over 28°C in growth chambers. Plant resistance was not compromised in the field in cloth-covered shade tents even when 33.5 of the 96 h immediately following inoculation were above 28°C. Green spot of cured leaves was strongly associated with TMV infection in susceptible plants, even when plants were infected after leaf expansion and mosaic symptoms were not present. Green spot also occurred to a lesser extent and for a limited time in inoculated resistant plants. The development of green spot symptoms on cured leaves may be the result of either systemic infection of TMV-susceptible plants or associated with the systemic resistance response to TMV inoculation of resistant plants.

Endogenous salicylic acid (SA) levels increase and several families of pathogenesis-related genes (including PR1 and PR2) are induced during the resistance response of tobacco to tobacco mosaic virus infection. We have found that at temperatures (32°C) that prevent the induction of PR genes and resistance, the increases in SA levels were eliminated. However, when the resistance response was restored by shifting inoculated plants to lower temperatures, SA levels increased dramatically and preceded PR1 gene expression and necrotic lesion formation associated with resistance. SA was also found in a conjugated form whose levels increased in parallel with the free SA levels. The majority of the conjugated SA is in the form of a SA glucoside. This SA glucoside is active, probably due to its hydrolysis to free SA in the plant.In a search for cellular factors which directly interact with SA, we have detected and partially characterized a SA-binding activity in tobacco leaves. The SA-binding activity is both SDS-and proteinase-sensitive, indicating that it is a protein. The soluble protein has an apparent Kd of 14 mM for SA, which is consistent with the range of physiological concentrations of SA observed during the induction of plant disease responses. Its binding to SA is highly specific. Analogues of SA that are able to induce expression of PR genes and disease resistance strongly competed with SA for binding to this factor. In contrast, biologically inactive analogues could not compete with SA for binding. A partially purified preparation of the SA-binding protein, containing three major protein species and several minor ones, has been obtained.KeywordsSalicylic AcidTobacco Mosaic VirusSalicylic Acid SignalSalicylic Acid LevelSystemic Acquire ResistanceThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Pretreatment of tobacco leaves with low concentrations (5 to 10 mM) of H₂O₂ suppressed hypersensitive-type necrosis associated with resistance to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) or Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. The same pretreatment resulted in suppression of normosensitive necrosis associated with susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea. This type of H₂O₂-mediated, induced disease symptom resistance correlated with enhanced host antioxidant capacity, i.e., elevated enzymatic activities of catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and guaiacol peroxidase (POX) after viral and bacterial infections. Induction of genes that encode the antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD), CAT, and APX was also enhanced early after TMV infection. Artificial application of SOD and CAT suppressed necroses caused by viral, bacterial, or fungal pathogens similarly as H₂O₂ pretreatment, implying that H₂O₂-mediated symptom resistance operates through enhancement of plant antioxidant capacity. Pathogen multiplication was not significantly affected in H₂O₂-pretreated plants. Salicylic acid (SA), a central component of plant defense, does not seem to function in this type of H₂O₂-mediated symptom resistance, indicated by unchanged levels of free and bound SA and a lack of early up-regulation of an SA glucosyltransferase gene in TMV-infected H₂O₂-pretreated tobacco. Taken together, H₂O₂-mediated, induced resistance to necrotic symptoms in tobacco seems to depend on enhanced antioxidant capacity.

In the course of searching for antiviral substances to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), it was found that polysaccharides have a high inhibitory activity against TMV infection. The leaves of Xanthi NN tobacco were rubbed with the mixtures of TMV and polysaccharides such as chondroitin sulfate C‐ and A‐ types. The addition of polysaccharides to the inoculum solution greatly reduced the number of local lesions formed on the inoculated leaves. Here the polysaccharide did not completely prevent virus entry into the leaves and the virus particles may penetrate and multiply in leaves without forming lesions. Although the electron micrograph showed that the virus suspension was almost monodisperse, the addition of polysaccharides caused TMV to form large raft‐like aggregates. The TMV solution became turbid after the addition of a large amount of polysaccharides. A threshold concentration of polysaccharides exists for virus precipitation, which is independent of the virus concentration. The size of polysaccharide at the threshold concentration agreed well with that obtained by light scattering method. The strength of the interaction between TMV and polysaccharides was found to be related to the degree of inhibitory activity of polysaccharides.

Salicylic acid (SA) is a likely endogenous regulator of localized and systemic disease resistance in plants. During the hypersensitive response of Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Xanthi-nc to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), SA levels rise dramatically. We studied SA biosynthesis in healthy and TMV-inoculated tobacco by monitoring the levels of SA and its likely precursors in extracts of leaves and cell suspensions. In TMV-inoculated leaves, stimulation of SA accumulation is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the levels of benzoic acid. 14C-Tracer studies with cell suspensions and mock-or TMV-inoculated leaves indicate that the label moves from trans-cinnamic acid to SA via benzoic acid. In healthy and TMV-inoculated tobacco leaves, benzoic acid induced SA accumulation. o-Coumaric acid, which was previously reported as a possible precursor of SA in other species, did not increase SA levels in tobacco. In healthy tobacco tissue, the specific activity of newly formed SA was equal to that of the supplied [14C]benzoic acid, whereas in TMV-inoculated leaves some isotope dilution was observed, presumably because of the increase in the pool of endogenous benzoic acid. We observed accumulation of pathogen-esis-related-1 proteins and increased resistance to TMV in benzoic acid- but not in o-coumaric acid-treated tobacco leaves. This is consistent with benzoic acid being the immediate precursor of SA. We conclude that in healthy and virus-inoculated tobacco, SA is formed from cinnamic acid via benzoic acid.

iTRAQ protein profile analysis provides integrated insight into mechanisms of tolerance to TMV in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)

Antiviral activity of alginate against infection by tobacco mosaic virus

Salicylic acid (SA) is hypothesized to be an endogenous regulator of local and systemic disease resistance and an inducer of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins among plants. High levels of PR proteins have been observed in an uninoculated amphidiploid hybrid of Nicotiana glutinosa [times] N. debneyi, which is highly resistant to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Fluoresence, UV, and mass spectral analysis established that the levels of SA in healthy N. glutinosa [times] N. debneyi leaves were 30 times greater than in N. tabacum [open quotes]Xanthi-nc[close quotes] tobacco, which does not constitutively express PR proteins and is less resistant to TMV. Upon TMV-inoculation SA levels increased at least 70-fold leaves of Xanthi-nc but role only slightly in the hybrid. Phloem exudates of N. glutinosa [times] N. debneyi contained at least 500 times more SA than those of Xanthi-nc. SA treatment caused the appearance of PR-1 protein in Xanthi-nc but did not affect constitutively high levels of PR-1 protein in N. glutinosa [times] N. debneyi. In contrast to Xanthi-nc tobacco, TMV-inoculated N. glutinosa [times] N. debneyi kept at 32 C accumulated more than 0.5 [mu]g SA/g fresh weight, maintained high levels of PR proteins, and developed a hypersensitive response to TMV. PR proteins havemore » previously been shown to accumulate in the lower leaves of healthy, flowering Xanthi-nc tobacco, which exhibited increased resistance to TMV. These developmentally induced increases in resistance and PR-1 proteins positively correlated with tissue levels of SA. These results affirm the regulatory role of SA in disease resistance and PR protein production. 31 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.« less

The role of mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOX) and the relationship between systemic AOX induction, ROS formation, and systemic plant basal defense to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) were investigated in tomato plants. The results showed that TMV inoculation significantly increased the level of AOX gene transcripts, ubiquinone reduction levels, pyruvate content, and cyanide-resistant respiration (CN-resistant R) in upper, un-inoculated leaves. Pretreatment with potassium cyanide (KCN, a cytochrome pathway inhibitor) greatly increased CN-resistant R and reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, while application of salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM, an AOX inhibitor) blocked the AOX activity and enhanced the production of ROS in the plants. Furthermore, TMV systemic infection was enhanced by SHAM and reduced by KCN pretreatment, as compared with the un-pretreated TMV counterpart. In addition, KCN application significantly diminished TMV-induced increase in antioxidant enzyme activities and dehydroascorbate/total ascorbate pool, while an opposite change was observed with SHAM-pretreated plants. These results suggest that the systemic induction of the mitochondrial AOX pathway plays a critical role in the reduction of ROS to enhance basal defenses. Additional antioxidant systems were also coordinately regulated in the maintenance of the cellular redox homeostasis.

Viruses cause serious damage to crops; however, effective plant antiviral disease managements remain largely to be explored. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are genes involved in histone regulation, and modulate the expression of genes. Previous studies demonstrated that in histone deacetylases (HDACs) single-gene-knockout yeasts the accumulation of Brome mosaic virus and Tomato bushy stunt virus decreased, and application of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) to HCV replicon cell OR6 showed suppressive effect on Hepatitis C virus. However, whether HDACi can be applied for plant viral disease management remained to be resolved. In this study, we first treated sodium butyrate (one kind of HDACi) to Nicotiana benthamiana, a susceptible host, to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). The data indicated that plants pretreated with sodium butyrate showed more vigorously growth and delayed in symptom expression than untreated plants after TMV inoculation. In addition, our RT-PCR revealed that the application of sodium butyrate induced the expression of PR-1a, suggested that sodium butyrate participated in the salicylic acids (SA) related plant defense pathway. Furthermore, in contrast to SA-treated plants the expression of PR-1a is stronger in treated leaves than systemic leaves; sodium butyrate-treated leaf shows stronger PR-1a induction in systemic leaves. The production of ROS showed obviously increase in the systemic leaf of sodium butyrate-treated N. benthamiana. It indicated that SA may trigger stronger local defense and sodium butyrate trigger stronger systemic defense. Thus, we applied both SA and sodium butyrate solutions on the leaves of N. benthamiana, and enhanced resistance was observed on the mixed solutions-treated plants. It revealed that sodium butyrate has the potential to be applied in development of effective systemic antiviral disease managements.