VvWRKY72 transcription factor increases susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea in transgenic Arabidopsis and grape plants

IF 4.2 2区农林科学 Q1 HORTICULTURE

Scientia Horticulturae Pub Date : 2025-08-01 DOI:10.1016/j.scienta.2025.114359

Jinyuan Li , Lijuan Li , Tingting Zhang , Lihong Hao , Huilan Yi

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Sulfur dioxide-based preservation is the most widely used and effective method for storing table grapes (Vitis vinifera L.), triggering a transcriptional response of the defense-related genes. In this study, we selected a previously uncharacterized SO₂-responsive gene, VvWRKY72, from RNA-seq data to characterize it using transgenic Arabidopsis and grape plants. The VvWRKY72 gene encodes a 605-amino acid protein with one WRKY domain belonging to the group IIb WRKY subfamily. VvWRKY72 was expressed in various grape tissues; however, higher levels of expression were detected in roots, mature leaves, and mature fruit skins. The VvWRKY72 gene responded to low temperature, phytohormone methyl jasmonate, and Botrytis cinerea. In transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing VvWRKY72, VvWRKY72-GFP was localized in the nucleus. B. cinerea caused severe yellowing and necrotic lesions in leaves of transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing VvWRKY72, which were accompanied by reduced antioxidant enzyme activities, elevated levels of H₂O₂ and malondialdehyde (MDA), and increased cell death. Meanwhile, the transgenic plants exhibited decreased callose deposition, heightened activities of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs), and downregulated jasmonic acid (JA) signaling genes (AtLOX3, AtAOC3, AtOPR3, AtORA59, AtPDF1.2, and AtPR3), as well as related chitinase (CHI) activity following B. cinerea inoculation. Similarly, after inoculation with B. cinerea, the leaves of VvWRKY72-overexpressing grape plants exhibited severe disease symptoms, along with downregulation of antioxidant and JA-responsive genes, and upregulation of genes encoding PCWDEs. Conversely, silencing of VvWRKY72 enhanced resistance of grape plant to B. cinerea. Therefore, we speculated that VvWRKY72 played negative regulatory roles in B. cinerea infection by impairing reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, JA-mediated defense and cell wall-associated defenses.

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VvWRKY72转录因子增加转基因拟南芥和葡萄对灰霉病的敏感性

基于二氧化硫的保存是保存鲜食葡萄（Vitis vinifera L.）最广泛和有效的方法，引发防御相关基因的转录反应。在这项研究中，我们从RNA-seq数据中选择了一个以前未被表征的二氧化硫应答基因，VvWRKY72，并利用转基因拟南芥和葡萄植株对其进行了表征。VvWRKY72基因编码一个605个氨基酸的蛋白，具有一个WRKY结构域，属于IIb组WRKY亚家族。VvWRKY72在葡萄各组织中表达；然而，在根、成熟叶和成熟果皮中检测到较高水平的表达。VvWRKY72基因对低温、植物激素茉莉酸甲酯和葡萄孢杆菌有反应。在过表达VvWRKY72的转基因拟南芥植株中，VvWRKY72- gfp定位于细胞核。过表达VvWRKY72的转基因拟南芥植株叶片发生严重的黄变和坏死，同时抗氧化酶活性降低，h2o2和丙二醛（MDA）水平升高，细胞死亡增加。同时，接种灰葡萄球菌后，转基因植株胼胝质沉积减少，细胞壁降解酶（PCWDEs）活性升高，茉莉酸（JA）信号基因（AtLOX3、AtAOC3、AtOPR3、AtORA59、AtPDF1.2和AtPR3）及相关几丁质酶（CHI）活性下调。同样，接种灰孢杆菌后，过表达vvwrky72的葡萄植株叶片表现出严重的病害症状，同时抗氧化和ja响应基因下调，编码PCWDEs的基因上调。反之，沉默VvWRKY72可增强葡萄植株对灰葡萄球菌的抗性。因此，我们推测VvWRKY72通过破坏活性氧（ROS）稳态、ja介导的防御和细胞壁相关防御，在灰绿杆菌感染中发挥负调控作用。

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来源期刊

Scientia Horticulturae 农林科学-园艺

CiteScore

8.60

自引率

4.70%

发文量

796

审稿时长

47 days

期刊介绍： Scientia Horticulturae is an international journal publishing research related to horticultural crops. Articles in the journal deal with open or protected production of vegetables, fruits, edible fungi and ornamentals under temperate, subtropical and tropical conditions. Papers in related areas (biochemistry, micropropagation, soil science, plant breeding, plant physiology, phytopathology, etc.) are considered, if they contain information of direct significance to horticulture. Papers on the technical aspects of horticulture (engineering, crop processing, storage, transport etc.) are accepted for publication only if they relate directly to the living product. In the case of plantation crops, those yielding a product that may be used fresh (e.g. tropical vegetables, citrus, bananas, and other fruits) will be considered, while those papers describing the processing of the product (e.g. rubber, tobacco, and quinine) will not. The scope of the journal includes all horticultural crops but does not include speciality crops such as, medicinal crops or forestry crops, such as bamboo. Basic molecular studies without any direct application in horticulture will not be considered for this journal.