Molecular cloning and functional characterisation of the tomato E3 ubiquitin ligase SlBAH1 gene.

Emerging evidence suggests that E3 ligases play critical roles in diverse biological processes, including pathogen resistance in plants. In the present study, an ubiquitin ligase gene (SlBAH1) was cloned from a tomato plant, and the functions of the gene were studied. The SlBAH1 gene contained 1002 nucleotides and encodes a protein with 333 amino acids. The SlBAH1 protein contains a SPX domain and a RING domain. SlBAH1 displayed E3 ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro. SlBAH1 was shown to localise in the nucleus, cytoplasm and plasma membrane by a subcellular localisation assay. The expression of SlBAH1 was induced by various hormones and Botrytis cinerea Pers. treatment. SlBAH1-silencing in plants obtained by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technology enhanced resistance to B. cinerea, and the expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, including PR1, PR2, PR4, PR5, and PR7, was significantly increased. These results indicate that the SlBAH1-dependent activation of defence-related genes played a key role in the enhanced fungal resistance observed in the SlBAH1-silenced plants and may be related to the SA-dependent and JA-dependent signalling pathways.

Tomato WRKY transcriptional factor SlDRW1 is required for disease resistance against Botrytis cinerea and tolerance to oxidative stress.

WRKY proteins comprise a large family of transcription factors that play important roles in plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses; however, only a few of tomato WRKYs have been studied for their biological functions. In the present study, we identified a Botrytis cinerea-responsive WRKY gene SlDRW1 (Solanum lycopersicumdefense-related WRKY1) from tomato. SlDRW1 is a nucleus localized protein with transactivation activity in yeast. Expression of SlDRW1 was significantly induced by B. cinerea, leading to 10-13 folds of increase than that in the mock-inoculated plants but not by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000. Silencing of SlDRW1 resulted in increased severity of disease caused by B. cinerea, but did not affect the phenotype of disease caused by Pst DC3000. In addition, silencing of SlDRW1 also resulted in decreased tolerance against oxidative stress but did not affect drought stress tolerance. Furthermore, silencing of SlDRW1 attenuated defense response such as expression of defense-related genes after infection by B. cinerea. Our results demonstrate that SlDRW1 is a positive regulator of defense response in tomato against B. cinerea and oxidative stress.

Paper-based electroanalytical devices for in situ determination of salicylic acid in living tomato leaves.

Detection of phytohormones in situ has gained significant attention due to their critical roles in regulating developmental processes and signaling for defenses in plants at low concentration. As one type of plant hormones, salicylic acid has recently been found to be one of pivotal signal molecules for physiological behaviors of plants. Here we report the application of paper-based electroanalytical devices for sensitively in situ detection of salicylic acid in tomato leaves with the sample volume of several microliters. Specifically, disposable working electrodes were fabricated by coating carbon tape with the mixture of multiwall carbon nanotubes and nafion. We observed that the treatment of the modified carbon tape electrodes with oxygen plasma could significantly improve electrochemical responses of salicylic acid. The tomato leaves had a punched hole of 1.5mm diameter to release salicylic acid with minor influence on continuous growth of tomatoes. By incorporating the tomato leaf with the paper-based analytical device, we were able to perform in situ determination of salicylic acid based on its electrocatalytic oxidation. Our experimental results demonstrated that the amounts of salicylic acid differed statistically in normal, phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene silent and diseased (infected by Botrytis cinerea) tomato leaves. By quantifying salicylic acid at the level of several nanograms in situ, the simple paper-based electroanalytical devices could potentially facilitate the study of defense mechanism of plants under biotic and abiotic stresses. This study might also provide a sensitive method with spatiotemporal resolution for mapping of chemicals released from living organisms.

[Functions of NAC transcription factors in biotic and abiotic stress responses in plants].

NAC transcription factors belong to a unique class of transcription factors in plants. The common characteristics of the NAC proteins are the presence of a conserved NAC domain, comprising of about 150 amino acids in N-terminals and a highly variable transcriptional regulation region in C-terminals. Extensive studies have revealed that NAC transcription factors not only play important roles in plant growth and development, but also have functions in regulation of responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this minireview, we summarized the functions and mechanisms of the NAC transcriptional factors in plant abiotic and biotic stress responses. We also discussed future directions towards understanding the biological functions of the members of the NAC transcriptional factors in plants.

Systemic induction and role of mitochondrial alternative oxidase and nitric oxide in a compatible tomato-Tobacco mosaic virus interaction.

The role of mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOX) and the relationship between AOX and nitric oxide (NO) in virus-induced systemic defense to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) were investigated in susceptible tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants. TMV inoculation to the lower leaves induced a rapid NO synthesis and AOX activation in upper uninoculated leaves as early as 0.5 day postinoculation. Application of exogenous potassium cyanide (KCN, a cytochrome pathway inhibitor) at nonlethal concentrations and NO donor diethylamine NONOate (DEA/NO) to the upper uninoculated leaves greatly induced accumulation of AOX transcript, reduced TMV viral RNA accumulation, and increased the leaf photochemical quantum yield at photosystem II. Pretreatment with NO scavenger almost completely blocked TMV-induced AOX induction and substantially increased TMV susceptibility. Salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM, an AOX inhibitor) pretreatment reduced the DEA/NO-induced cyanide-resistant respiration and partially compromised induced resistance to TMV. Conversely, KCN and SHAM pretreatment had very little effect on generation of NO, and pretreatment with NO scavenger did not affect KCN-induced AOX induction and TMV resistance. These results suggest that TMV-induced NO generation acts upstream and mediates AOX induction which, in turn, induces mitochondrial alternative electron transport and triggers systemic basal defense against the viral pathogen.

Molecular characterization of a defense-related AMP-binding protein gene, OsBIABP1, from rice.

We cloned and characterized a rice gene OsBIABP1 encoding an AMP-binding protein. The full-length cDNA of OsBIABP1 is 1912-bp long and is predicted to encode a 558-aa protein. OsBIABP1 contains a typical AMP-binding signature motif and shows high similarity to members of AMP-binding protein family. OsBIABP1 is expressed in stems, leaves and flowers of rice plants, but is not expressed, or expressed at a very low level, in rice roots. The expression of OsBIABP1 was induced by some defense-related signal molecules, e.g., salicylic acid (SA), benzothiadiazole, jasmonic acid (JA), and 1-amino cyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, which mediate SA- and JA/ethylene (ET)-dependent defense signaling pathways, respectively. Furthermore, the expression of OsBIABP1 is activated by the infection of Magnaporthe oryzae, and the induced expression is quicker and stronger during early stages of pathogenesis in incompatible interaction than that in compatible interaction between rice and M. oryzae. Our results suggest that OsBIABP1 may be a defense-related AMP-binding protein that is involved in the regulation of defense response through SA and/or JA/ET signaling pathways.