Expression of antimicrobial peptides thanatin(S) in transgenic Arabidopsis enhanced resistance to phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria

Thanatin(S) is an analog of thanatin, an insect antimicrobial peptide possessing strong and broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. In order to investigate if the thanatin could be used in engineering transgenic plants for increased resistance against phytopathogens, the synthetic thanatin(S) was introduced into Arabidopsis thaliana plants. To increase the expression level of thanatin(S) in plants, the coding sequence was optimized by plant-preference codon. To avoid cellular protease degradation, signal peptide of rice Cht1 was fused to N terminal of thanatin(S) for secreting the expressed thanatin(S) into intercellular spaces. To evaluate the application value of thanatin(S) in plant disease control, the synthesized coding sequence of Cht1 signal peptide (Cht1SP)-thanatin(S) was ligated to plant gateway destination binary vectors pGWB11 (with FLAG tag). Meanwhile, in order to observe the subcellular localization of Cht1SP-thanatin(S)-GFP and thanatin(S)-GFP, the sequences of Cht1SP-thanatin(S) and thanatin(S) were respectively linked to pGWB5 (with GFP tag). The constructs were transformed into Arabidopsis ecotype Col-0 and mutant pad4-1 via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The transformants with Cht1SP-thanatin(S)-FLAG fusion gene were analyzed by genomic PCR, real-time PCR, and western blots and the transgenic Arabidopsis plants introduced respectively Cht1SP-thanatin(S)-GFP and thanatin(S)-GFP were observed by confocal microscopy. Transgenic plants expressing Cht1SP-thanatin(S)-FLAG fusion protein showed antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea and powdery mildew, as well as antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. And the results from confocal observation showed that the GFP signal from Cht1SP-thanatin(S)-GFP transgenic Arabidopsis plants occurred mainly in intercellular space, while that from thanatin(S)-GFP transgenic plants was mainly detected in the cytoplasm and that from empty vector transgenic plants was distributed uniformly throughout the cell, demonstrating that Cht1 signal peptide functioned. In addition, thanatin(S) and thanatin(S)-FLAG chemically synthesized have both in vitro antimicrobial activities against P. syringae pv. tomato and B. cinerea. So, thanatin(S) is an ideal candidate AMPs for the construction of transgenic crops endowed with a broad-spectrum resistance to phytopathogens and the strategy is feasible to link a signal peptide to the target gene.     

短小芽孢杆菌AR03对烟草赤星病菌和白粉病菌的防治

采用对峙培养法、凹玻片法、LB琼脂培养基萌发法测定短小芽孢杆菌AR03对烟草赤星病菌和白粉病菌的抑制作用.结果表明： AR03菌液对2种病菌的菌丝生长和分生孢子萌发均有明显的拮抗作用;对赤星病菌的抑制作用表现为:经AR03菌液原液(3×10⁸cfu·mL^-1)处理的菌丝隔间变短、肿胀且集结成团,内含物聚集,菌丝顶端生长膨大畸形;经该菌液处理的赤星病菌分生孢子不萌发或萌发产生畸形芽管,分生孢子变形、肿大,纵横分隔部分的组织膨胀呈泡状.AR03菌液原液、30倍液和200倍液对白粉病菌分生孢子萌发的平板抑制率分别为100%、91.4%和 69.3%,菌液对分生孢子萌发的破坏作用表现为分生孢子不萌发,细胞肿胀变形、细胞原生质解体或收缩,孢子内、外壁分离,由于原生质外泄,一些分生孢子内部呈中空状.温室防治试验结果表明： 不同浓度AR03菌悬液处理对烟草白粉病的防治效果存在显著差异,第二次药后7和15 d,AR03菌液原液的防治效果分别达到83.8%和90.3%,与对照药剂差异不显著;而100倍稀释液的防效分别为70.0%和73.3%,与对照药剂差异显著.AR03菌株防治白粉病的持效期为30 d以上.     

Interaction of a Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei effector candidate with a barley ARF‐GAP suggests that host vesicle trafficking is a fungal pathogenicity target

Filamentous phytopathogens, such as fungi and oomycetes, secrete effector proteins to establish successful interactions with their plant hosts. In contrast with oomycetes, little is known about effector functions in true fungi. We used a bioinformatics pipeline to identify Blumeria effector candidates (BECs) from the obligate biotrophic barley powdery mildew pathogen, Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei (Bgh). BEC1–BEC5 are expressed at different time points during barley infection. BEC1, BEC2 and BEC4 have orthologues in the Arabidopsis thaliana‐infecting powdery mildew fungus Golovinomyces orontii. Arabidopsis lines stably expressing the G. orontii BEC2 orthologue, GoEC2, are more susceptible to infection with the non‐adapted fungus Erysiphe pisi, suggesting that GoEC2 contributes to powdery mildew virulence. For BEC3 and BEC4, we identified thiopurine methyltransferase, a ubiquitin‐conjugating enzyme, and an ADP ribosylation factor‐GTPase‐activating protein (ARF‐GAP) as potential host targets. Arabidopsis knockout lines of the respective HvARF‐GAP orthologue (AtAGD5) allowed higher entry levels of E. pisi, but exhibited elevated resistance to the oomycete Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis. We hypothesize that ARF‐GAP proteins are conserved targets of powdery and downy mildew effectors, and we speculate that BEC4 might interfere with defence‐associated host vesicle trafficking.     

A novel receptor‐like kinase involved in fungal pathogen defence in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plants are under constant attack from a variety of disease‐causing organisms. Lacking an adaptive immune system, plants repel pathogen attack via an array of pathogen recognition machinery. Receptor‐like kinases (RLKs) are involved in the recognition of pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and activate resistance pathways against broad classes of pathogens. We have identified powdery mildew‐resistant kinase 1, an Arabidopsis gene encoding an RLK that is highly induced by chitin at early time points and localizes to the plasma membrane. Knockout mutants in pmrk1 are more susceptible to both Golovinomyces cichoracearum and Plectosphaerella cucumerina. Our data show that PMRK1 is essential in early stages of defence against fungi and provide evidence that PMRK1 may be unique to chitin‐induced signalling pathways. The results of this study indicate that PMRK1 is a critical component of plant innate immunity against fungal pathogens.     

Four powdery mildew species with catenate conidia infect Galium: molecular and morphological evidence

The Erysiphaceae are a group of obligately biotrophic fungi that cause powdery mildew disease of angiosperms. Due to their inability to be cultured on artificial media, the taxonomy of the Erysiphaceae has generally been based on the morphological characteristics of fresh and herbarium specimens. Thus, several morphological species with wide host ranges have long been maintained in this family, even though they clearly consist of several biological species. Erysiphe galii has been known as a powdery mildew of Galium spp. Recently, the former E. galii var. galii has been reassessed as Neoerysiphe galii and E. galii var. riedliana as Golovinomyces riedlianus, along with a taxonomic revision of the generic concept of the Erysiphaceae. The present study was conducted to evaluate the validity of the taxonomic revision of the two varieties of E. galii. During the course of this study, we found that the Galium powdery mildews consist of at least four different species, viz. Neoerysiphe galii, Golovinomyces orontii, G. riedlianus, and an unknown species collected in Argentina. The latter species is described as a new species, Golovinomyces calceolariae. The three species belonging to Golovinomyces are morphologically very similar to each other, i.e. the discrimination between them is rather difficult. The morphological differences of the three Golovinomyces species of Galium are discussed.     

Efficacy of Three Natural Chemicals to Reduce the Damage of Erysiphe cichoracearum on Chicory in Two Meteorologically Different Growing Seasons

In two meteorologically quite different years, 2002 and 2003, efficacy of three natural substances with a fungicidal activity (sulphur, soya lecithin, salicylic acid) for control of Erysiphe cichoracearum on chicory was tested. In a block designed field experiment, there were statistically significant differences in the mean index of infection of exterior leaves, in the mean total weight and mean net weight of the plants (= total weight − weight of removed damaged leaves). There was also a significant difference in firmness of the heads of nine chicory varieties that was established in both years. In 2002, when no extreme weather conditions occurred, the fungus spread to a substantially larger extent. Yet no statistically significant differences were found in the efficacy of environmentally friendly fungicidal substances for control of the fungus. In the hotter and drier year of 2003, which was less favourable for spread of the pathogen, sulphur‐containing fungicide was the most effective. In 2002, chicory yield was lower than in 2003. Generally, yield loss due to removal of damaged leaves was from 30.7 to 45.0% in the first year, and from 11.3 to 24.8% in the second. The highest mean total yield and net yield of chicory were in plants, which were treated three times with sulphur‐containing fungicide. In 2002, the most firm heads were in plants treated with sulphur. In 2003, no significant differences among substances were detected. The most infected with the powdery mildew caused by E. cichoracearum, were the less productive varieties of chicory. A statistically significant relationship was not found between the firmness of the heads and the degree of infection. Among different parameters in this experiment, the only relevant and high statistically significant positive correlation (r² = 0.71) was determined between the total weight of the plants and yield loss of chicory due to infection with the fungus in question.     

Induction of defence-related biochemical changes in okra leaves to powdery mildew disease by several plant-derived agents

Certain plant-derived agents (PDA) which could induce resistance in okra leaves against powdery mildew (Erysiphe cichoracearum) and biochemical changes in treated leaves were investigated during 2011 and 2012 growing seasons. At the two-leaf old, four- and eight-week leaves of the greenhouse-grown okra plants were sprayed with either PDA two days before inoculation with conidia. Among all tested PDA, neem seed oil (NSO) caused the highest protection, followed by jojoba oil (JO) and extract of Reynoutria sachalinensis. Moreover, levels of total protein, activity of peroxidase, polyphenyloxidase and chitinase and total phenols content of treated two-leaf old highly increased after application of NSO and JO, but not by the pathogen (untreated control). Finally, based on conidia germination, lack of the fungitoxic effect of JO and RE and also the slight effect of NSO (9–13.75%) may demonstrate the main role of these agents for inducing resistance through the activation of biochemical defence in treated leaves.     

中国白粉菌的四个新记录分类群

报道了中国白粉菌科Erysiphaceae的四个新记录分类群,即:寄生于大刺儿菜上的梅厄白粉菌日本变种Erysiphemayoriivar.japonica,寄生于铺地委陵菜上的瑟门白粉菌Erysiphethuemenii,寄生于美女樱上的马鞭草高氏白粉菌Golovinomycesverbenae以及寄生于牻牛儿苗和老鹳草属上的老鹳草新白粉菌Neoerysiphegeranii。研究标本保存在赤峰学院菌物标本室(CFSZ)。