Abstract
Nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) domain proteins are immune sensors and play critical roles in plant disease resistance. In this study, we cloned and characterized a novel NBS-LRR gene ZmNBS25 in maize. We found that ZmNBS25 could response to pathogen inoculation and salicylic acid (SA) treatment in maize, and transient overexpression of ZmNBS25 induced a hypersensitive response in tobacco. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that, compared to control plants, ZmNBS25 overexpression (ZmNBS25-OE) in Arabidopsis and rice resulted in higher SA levels. By triggering the expression of certain defense-responsive genes, ZmNBS25-OE enhanced the resistance of Arabidopsis and rice to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 and sheath blight disease, respectively. Moreover, we found little change of grain size and 1000-grain weight between ZmNBS25-OE rice lines and controls. Together, our results suggest that ZmNBS25 can function as a disease resistance gene across different species, being a valuable candidate for engineering resistance in breeding programs.
Highlights
Plants have evolved multiple defense strategies against pathogen infections (Thomma et al, 2011; Henry et al, 2013) and have different immune systems that are highly effective against most microbial pathogens (Jones and Dangl, 2006; Chen and Ronald, 2011; Dangl et al, 2013)
We identified 109 nucleotide-binding site (NBS)-encoding genes based on the complete genome sequence of maize and found that some of these genes responded to B. maydis infection (Cheng et al, 2012)
The protein encoded by this gene clustered with the Arabidopsis disease resistance protein AtRPM1 (Cheng et al, 2012)
Summary
Plants have evolved multiple defense strategies against pathogen infections (Thomma et al, 2011; Henry et al, 2013) and have different immune systems that are highly effective against most microbial pathogens (Jones and Dangl, 2006; Chen and Ronald, 2011; Dangl et al, 2013). The first defense system recognizes conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and is called PAMP-triggered immunity This first line of defense kills many pathogens, while the other systems suppress or bypass infection (Jones and Dangl, 2006; Zhang and Zhou, 2010; Chen and Ronald, 2011). Plant NBS-LRR genes interact with pathogen effector proteins to activate signal transduction pathways involved in innate immunity while TIR and CC domains recognize R-Avr complexes and initiate downstream defense signaling (Burkhard et al, 2001; Liu et al, 2007). We isolated the NBS-LRR gene ZmNBS25 from maize and investigated its disease resistance functions in Arabidopsis and rice. It might be a valuable candidate for engineering pathogen resistance in breeding programs
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
