J Integr Plant Biol ›› 2016, Vol. 58 ›› Issue (5): 503-513.DOI: 10.1111/jipb.12432

• • 上一篇    

Suppression of the homeobox gene HDTF1 enhances resistance to Verticillium dahliae and Botrytis cinerea in cotton

Wei Gao1,2, Lu Long1,2, Li Xu1, Keith Lindsey3, Xianlong Zhang1 and Longfu Zhu1*   

  • 收稿日期:2015-04-25 接受日期:2015-09-21 出版日期:2015-09-26 发布日期:2015-09-26

Suppression of the homeobox gene HDTF1 enhances resistance to Verticillium dahliae and Botrytis cinerea in cotton

Wei Gao1,2, Lu Long1,2, Li Xu1, Keith Lindsey3, Xianlong Zhang1 and Longfu Zhu1*   

  1. 1National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
    2State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
    3Integrative Cell Biology Laboratory, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, UK
  • Received:2015-04-25 Accepted:2015-09-21 Online:2015-09-26 Published:2015-09-26
  • About author:*Correspondence: E-mail: lfzhu@mail.hzau.edu.cn

摘要： HDTF1, a member of the PINTOX class homeobox gene family, was cloned and characterized. Silencing of HDTF1 enhanced cotton resistance to V. dahliae and B. cinerea. In addition, we revealed that HDTF1 is a negative regulator of JA signaling pathway, and it could be used as a candidate gene in cotton disease resistance breeding.

Abstract:

Development of pathogen-resistant crops, such as fungus-resistant cotton, has significantly reduced chemical application and improved crop yield and quality. However, the mechanism of resistance to cotton pathogens such as Verticillium dahliae is still poorly understood. In this study, we characterized a cotton gene (HDTF1) that was isolated following transcriptome profiling during the resistance response of cotton to V. dahliae. HDTF1 putatively encodes a homeodomain transcription factor, and its expression was found to be down-regulated in cotton upon inoculation with V. dahliae and Botrytis cinerea. To characterise the involvement of HDTF1 in the response to these pathogens, we used virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) to generate HDTF1-silenced cotton. VIGS reduction in HDTF1 expression significantly enhanced cotton plant resistance to both pathogens. HDTF1 silencing resulted in activation of jasmonic acid (JA)-mediated signaling and JA accumulation. However, the silenced plants were not altered in the accumulation of salicylic acid (SA) or the expression of marker genes associated with SA signaling. These results suggest that HDTF1 is a negative regulator of the JA pathway, and resistance to V. dahliae and B. cinerea can be engineered by activation of JA signaling.

Key words: Botrytis cinerea, cotton, jasmonic acid, Verticillium dahliae, virus-induced gene silencing

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