RxLR效应因子Avr3a、Avr4和IPI-O在中国致病疫霉菌株中的组成

由致病疫霉(Phytophthora infestans)引起的马铃薯和番茄的晚疫病是一种世界范围内的重要病害。在致病疫霉与寄主的互作过程中,效应因子对于病原物能否成功入侵与定殖起到了关键作用。本研究检测了来自中国马铃薯主产区的37株致病疫霉菌中编码Avr3a,Avr4和IPI-O三种效应因子的基因组成,研究发现来自国内的所有供试菌株中只有1株分离自马铃薯的和2株分离自番茄的致病疫霉含有无毒基因Avr3a(编码Avr3a~(KI)),其余菌株均含有avr3a(编码Avr3a~(EM));所有菌株中都仅含有编码截断蛋白的avr4;从37株国内菌株中共检测到了25种ipiO变异型,其中20种为新变异型,聚类分析的结果表明这些变异型仍属于已报道的三类ipiO,而且大部分ipiO变异型为无毒型,可以被抗性基因Rpi-blb1识别。该研究结果表明avr3a和avr4普遍存在于中国致病疫霉菌株中,推测大部分菌株可以克服R3a和R4抗性基因;而ipiO的无毒变异型仍然普遍存在于国内致病疫霉群体中,可以被马铃薯含有的抗性基因Rpi-blb1识别。     

禾谷类白粉菌无毒基因研究进展

基因对基因假说阐明了病原菌无毒基因(avirulence gene,Avr gene)与寄主植物抗性基因(resistance gene,Rgene)相互识别和互作的关系。禾谷类白粉菌无毒基因产物作为重要的激发子,能够与其寄主R基因产物发生特异性互作,诱导植物细胞防卫反应。为了更加深入地了解这些无毒基因的作用,作者总结了最近关于AVRa1、AVRa10、AVRa13、AVRk1、AvrPm2和AvrPm3a2/f2等已克隆无毒基因的研究进展,讨论了它们作为效应蛋白(effector)或激发子的双重功能,在毒性菌株中的变异规律,与其对应R基因之间的互作模型,以及与转座子等重复序列之间的关联等。本文还对无毒基因研究方法的改进和未来的研究方向提出了建议。     

一个编码推定的钙依赖磷酸酶催化亚基的番茄全长cDNA序列的克隆及其表达分析

 钙依赖磷酸酶(Calcineurin)作为Ca²⁺信号传感器中继因子对受Ca²⁺调节的生物学过程起重要调控作用。本研究克隆了一个番茄全长cDNA序列,该序列与钙依赖磷酸酶催化亚基(Calcineurin A,CNA)序列同源。推定的蛋白产物由315个氨基酸组成,明显短于非植物来源的该类蛋白。该蛋白含有钙依赖磷酸酶类金属磷酸酶中保守的催化作用活性位点基序,以及两个潜在的钙调蛋白结合位点,故暂时命名为LeCAL1(Lycopersicon esculentum calcineurin A like 1)。对CNA序列的分析结果表明,植物与非植物CNA差异明显,在系统进化树中形成距离很远的两大分支。植物CNA中,LeCAL1与拟南芥CNA同源性较高,而与水稻CNA较低。对LeCAL1在番茄中的表达分析结果显示,Cf/Avr介导的过敏性反应的产生诱导LeCAL1基因的表达,表明钙依赖磷酸酶可能在番茄抗叶霉病中起调节作用。     

青枯菌GMI1000效应蛋白RipQ对致病力的作用研究

 青枯菌通过Ⅲ型分泌系统向寄主植物细胞分泌100多种效应蛋白,对寄主植物的抗感病性产生影响。青枯菌效应蛋白RipQ启动子区存在典型的HrpB识别序列PIP box (5′-TTCGG-N15-TTCGC-3′),但其功能尚未明确。本研究分析了RipQ在青枯菌4种演化型菌株中的分布情况。以青枯菌GMI1000为出发菌,构建ripQ缺失突变体和过表达菌株,研究效应蛋白RipQ在青枯菌-番茄植物互作中的功能。结果显示,ripQ广泛分布于除演化型IV的不同青枯菌类群中。与野生型菌株相比,ripQ突变体在番茄上的致病力有一定程度的增强,而ripQ过表达菌株的致病力显著降低。突变体和过表达菌株在培养基中的生长与野生型没有区别,但过表达菌株在番茄体内的繁殖能力下降。RipQ过表达菌株侵染番茄后hrpB、hrpG和epsA基因表达量显著下调,且能够诱导番茄叶片H₂O₂的大量累积,过敏性坏死反应标志基因hin1和水杨酸信号通路标志基因PR1a的诱导表达。另外,在番茄上瞬时表达ripQ也可以观察到H₂O₂积累及叶片细胞坏死,伴随着hin1和PR1a的上调表达。这些结果表明效应蛋白RipQ具有诱导番茄抗性的作用,从而影响青枯菌在番茄植物上的致病力。     

青霉菌灭活菌丝体诱导烟草BY-2悬浮细胞防卫反应的初步研究

 青霉菌灭活菌丝体(Dry Mycelium of Penicillium chrysogenum,DMP)是工业生产青霉素的残余副产物,研究发现DMP能够提高多种作物的抗病性。本文研究了DMP对烟草BY-2悬浮细胞防卫反应的诱导作用,并初步探索其诱导机制,结果表明:DMP处理烟草BY-2悬浮细胞后,产生了活性氧迸发,在处理后30 min达到峰值;DMP诱导烟草BY-2悬浮细胞胞外基质碱性化,该变化能被蛋白激酶抑制剂K252a部分抑制;苯丙氨酸解氨酶(PAL)和过氧化物酶(POD)的活性被诱导而明显升高,分别在处理后4 h和8 h达到峰值;DMP诱导了病程相关蛋白基因PR-1a、PR-1b以及抗病信号传导途径关键基因NPR1的表达。说明DMP能够诱导烟草BY-2悬浮细胞产生抗病防卫反应,其抗病信号可能是通过水杨酸信号途径进行传导的,蛋白质磷酸化参与了该抗病信号的传导过程。     

进境油菜籽中油菜茎基溃疡病菌携带效应分子研究

油菜茎基溃疡病菌是一种为害油菜等十字花科作物的重要病原真菌,无毒基因是病原菌对抗植物免疫反应实现侵染寄主的一类效应分子。本研究验证了国境口岸截获的油菜茎基溃疡病菌已克隆并已验证其功能的Avr Lm1、Avr Lm2、Avr Lm6、Avr Lm4-7、Avr Lm11和Avr Lm J1共6个基因的存在情况,结合基因的功能,分析了病原菌无毒基因与抗病基因作用关系,以期为进境油菜籽等寄主产品的风险评估、对国内油菜种植生产的影响及抗病育种等提供信息和参考。     

水稻白叶枯病菌harpin基因的克隆与表达

 用PCR方法从水稻黄单胞菌白叶枯致病变种(Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae,Xoo) JxoIII菌株中克隆到编码诱导植物过敏性反应激发子的基因hrfA。同源性比较发现其推测产物与水稻白叶枯病菌菲律宾小种Pxo86的Hpa1有97.2%的序列一致性,比Hpa1少了一个-GGG-GG-氨基酸残基序列重复。基因经NdeI和BamHI双酶切后连到含T7启动子的高表达载体pET 30a (+)上构建重组质粒pHRF4,并转化宿主菌BL21(DE3)产生表达菌株BLHR4。经过IPTG诱导之后,BLHR4产生一分子量为15.6 kD的蛋白质。研究表明,该蛋白在性质与功能上类似于其它已发现的harpins,即能够在烟草上引起典型的过敏性反应,富含甘氨酸、热稳定以及对蛋白酶敏感。因此,我们把该蛋白定名为harpin_Xoo。harpin_Xoo还具有诱导植物抗病性的功能。     

一个小麦茉莉酮酸酯诱导蛋白基因的克隆和鉴定

 用基因芯片技术结合分池法(bulked segregating analysis,BSA)对参与小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)"兰考90(6)"抗白粉病反应或与抗病基因连锁的EST进行了分析。从"中国春"中克隆了一个与Ta-JA1高度相似的新的小麦茉莉酮酸酯诱导蛋白基因(GenBank登录号:EU035635),命名为Ta-JA2。Ta-JA2和Ta-JA1的cDNA序列有99%相同,编码304个氨基酸组成的多肽。Ta-JA2具有植物病原应答诱导蛋白-dirigent-类蛋白的典型保守功能域和jacalin-类植物血球凝集素的典型保守功能域。Ta-JA2主要在叶片和茎中表达,在根和幼穗中几乎不表达;在幼叶、壮叶和旗叶中的表达水平依次增强;在"中国春"和一个二粒小麦(Triticum dicoccoides)品系幼叶中的表达受白粉菌(Blumeria graminis f.sp.tritici)的诱导而增强;在"兰考90(6)21-12"叶片中的表达保持稳定而较高的水平。根据氨基酸序列的相似性建立了Ta-JA2类似蛋白的树形图,提供了植物中此类基因的进化信息。     

尖孢镰刀菌番茄专化型中SNARE蛋白FolSso1的功能分析

 SNARE(Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor)蛋白保守存在于丝状真菌中,在膜泡转运的过程中起着关键的作用。番茄枯萎病是由尖孢镰刀菌番茄专化型(Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici,Fol)引起的,严重威胁着番茄的生产。我们使用反向遗传学的方法来研究番茄枯萎病菌中SNARE蛋白FolSso1的功能,实验结果发现FolSSO1的基因缺失突变体菌丝生长速率降低,且产孢数量减少。另外,FolSSO1基因的缺失导致突变体相较于野生型菌株对细胞壁压力与细胞膜压力更加敏感。然后,在番茄果实和番茄植株的致病性实验中,我们发现FolSSO1的缺失并没有引起Fol致病性显著的变化。综上所述,本研究发现FolSSO1可以调控Fol营养生长,繁殖和对环境压力的响应过程,然而对Fol的致病过程并没有显著的调控作用。     

尖孢镰刀菌番茄专化型中SNARE蛋白FolSso1的功能分析

 SNARE(Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor)蛋白保守存在于丝状真菌中,在膜泡转运的过程中起着关键的作用。番茄枯萎病是由尖孢镰刀菌番茄专化型(Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici,Fol)引起的,严重威胁着番茄的生产。我们使用反向遗传学的方法来研究番茄枯萎病菌中SNARE蛋白FolSso1的功能,实验结果发现FolSSO1的基因缺失突变体菌丝生长速率降低,且产孢数量减少。另外,FolSSO1基因的缺失导致突变体相较于野生型菌株对细胞壁压力与细胞膜压力更加敏感。然后,在番茄果实和番茄植株的致病性实验中,我们发现FolSSO1的缺失并没有引起Fol致病性显著的变化。综上所述,本研究发现FolSSO1可以调控Fol营养生长,繁殖和对环境压力的响应过程,然而对Fol的致病过程并没有显著的调控作用。     

Local and systemic resistance to fungal pathogens triggered by an AVR9-mediated hypersensitive response in tomato and oilseed rape carrying the Cf-9 resistance gene

Tomato and transgenic oilseed rape plants expressing the Cf-9 resistance gene develop a hypersensitive response (HR) after injection of the corresponding Avr9 gene product. It was investigated whether induction of a HR conferred resistance to different fungal pathogens in tomato and oilseed rape. Induction of an AVR9 mediated HR at the pathogen infection site delayed the development of the biotrophs Oidium lycopersicum in tomato and Erysiphe polygoni in oilseed rape, but enhanced the development of the necrotrophs Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria solani in tomato and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in oilseed rape. Interestingly, delayed fungal disease development was observed in plant tissues surrounding the HR lesion regardless of whether a necrotrophic or biotrophic pathogen was used. In tomato, AVR9 injection induced systemic expression of PR1, PR2 and PR3 defence genes but did not induce systemic resistance to O. lycopersicum, B. cinerea or A. solani. In oilseed rape, AVR9 injection temporarily induced systemic resistance to Leptosphaeria maculans and E. polygoni, but did not induce detectable systemic expression of PR1, PR2 or Cxc750. These results give new insights into the potential uses of an induced HR to engineer disease resistance.     

MALDI-Qq-TOF-MS and transient gene expression analysis indicated co-enhancement of β-1,3-glucanase and endochitinase by tMEK2 and the involvement of divergent pathways

A mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway has been demonstrated as a key pathway in plant defense against pathogen attacks. With proteomics approaches, we specifically studied activation events downstream of a MAPK kinase, tMEK2, in tomato. Overexpression of a constitutively activated tomato MAPK kinase gene (tMEK2^MUT) enhanced resistance of transgenic tomato lines to the virulent bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. Pathogenesis-related genes, PR1b1, β-1,3-glucanase, and endochitinase were up-regulated by tMEK2^MUT. Two-dimensional electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry analysis of total soluble leaf proteins indicated that β-1,3-glucanase and endochitinase are among the up-regulated proteins in these transgenic plants. Co-expression studies using a transient gene expression system have indicated that β-1,3-glucanase and endochitinase genes up-regulated by tMEK2^MUT were down-regulated by different specific phosphatases through dephosphorylation of certain downstream signaling molecules. Our observations indicate that increased products of β-1,3-glucanase and endochitinase genes downstream of tMEK2 may play an important role in achieving disease resistance.     

Detection of physically interacting proteins with the CC and NB-ARC domains of a putative yellow rust resistance protein,Yr10, in wheat

Gene-for-gene (GFG) resistance is a potent defense mechanism in plants, that is mediated by resistance (R) proteins. In GFG resistance, pathogen effector or avirulence (Avr) proteins are recognised by R-proteins which initiate a series of signal transduction events that lead to hypersensitive cell death. In cereals, many R-proteins are comprised of an N-terminal coiled-coiled (CC) domain, a Nucleotide Binding (NB) domain and a Leucine Rich Repeats (LRR) region associated with effector recognition. NB-LRR immunity proteins are highly conserved across plant and animal taxa. To advance understating of signal transduction events in cereals, we exploited the high level of protein conservation to first identify yeast gene products interacting with the CC and NB domains of the candidate yellow rust R-protein (Yr10). Screening revealed proteins having mostly apoptosis related functions (Signal Recognition Particle 72kDa (SRP72); Chromosome SEgregation 1 (CSE1); ARrest Defective 1 (ARD1), translation initiation control in response to stress conditions (General Control Nonderepressible 2 (GCN2)), and a HSP90 co-chaperone (Cyclosporin-sensitive proline rotamase 7 (CPR7)). We then identified the close homologues of the interactors in barley and show that they were induced at 6h and/or 12 h after infection in Mla3 mediated Powdery Mildew (Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei, Bgh) disease resistance, suggesting their involvement in pathogen response.

     

Induced resistance in tomato plants to the toxin-dependent necrotrophic pathogen Alternaria alternata

A necrotrophic pathogen, the tomato pathotype of Alternaria alternata (Aa) causes Alternaria stem canker on tomato. Its pathogenicity depends on the production of host-specific AAL-toxin. Pre-inoculation with nonpathogenic Aa or pretreatment an elicitor prepared from Aa reduced disease symptoms by the pathogen. Salicylic acid (SA)- and jasmonic acid (JA)-dependent defense responses in tomato are not involved in the resistance to the pathogen induced by nonpathogenic Aa. The results suggest that an alternative and unknown signaling pathway independent of SA- and JA-signaling might modulate the induced resistance by activating the expression of the multiple defense genes.     

Early defence responses induced by AVR9 and mutant analogues in tobacco cell suspensions expressing the Cf-9 resistance gene

The interaction between the fungal leaf pathogen Cladosporium fulvum and its only host, tomato, fits the gene-for-gene model. In tomato, the Cf-9 resistance gene product mediates specific recognition of the fungal avirulence gene product AVR9, resulting in a hypersensitive response and resistance. Cf9 tomato leaves respond with necrosis after injection with AVR9, whereas Cf9 tomato cell suspensions do not show defence responses after treatment with AVR9. Here we report on early defence responses induced in Cf-9 transgenic tobacco leaves and Cf-9 transgenic tobacco cell suspensions after treatment with synthesized AVR9 and mutant analogues R08K, F10A and F21A. The necrosis-inducing activity of the AVR9 peptides increased in the order F21A, F10A, AVR9, R08K. An oxidative burst was induced at a much lower AVR9 peptide concentration as compared to medium alkalization and necrosis. Interestingly, the mutant peptide F21A failed to induce necrosis and medium alkalization but did induce an oxidative burst. In all assays, the relative differential activities of the AVR9 peptides were similar to those observed in Cf9 tomato leaves. Both AVR9 and F21A activated a MAP kinase in Cf-9 transgenic tobacco cell suspensions. AVR9 also induced specific cell death in these suspensions. The relation between the induction of early defence responses and necrosis is discussed.     

The first report on the occurrence race 9 of the tomato leaf mold pathogen Cladosporium fulvum (syn. Passalora fulva) in Cuba

Leaf mold caused by the fungus Cladosporium fulvum (syn. Passalora fulva) has been a serious disease in greenhouse tomatoes in Cuba, but less damage is seen in outdoor grown plants. This study was conducted to identify races of the causal agent of tomato leaf mold. A total of 36 single conidial isolates obtained from different provinces in Cuba and the reference strain race 0 were inoculated on a differential set of tomato cultivars carrying different Cf resistance genes. Further, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed using Avr9 gene-specific primers. As result, all isolates could overcome the Cf-9 resistance gene only, but not resistance genes Cf-2, Cf-4 and Cf-5 and must therefore be coined race 9. Race identity was also confirmed by PCR analysis, which showed that the Avr9 gene was not amplified in any of 36 single conidial isolates studied proving that they all lack this gene. This is the first report of the occurrence of race 9 of C. fulvum in Cuba. Pyramiding other Cf genes in hybrid of tomato may provide a more durable level of resistance to C. fulvum.

     

Identification of a host 14-3-3 Protein that Interacts with Xanthomonas effector AvrRxv

AvrRxv is a member of a family of pathogen effectors present in pathogens of both plant and mammalian species. Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria strains carrying AvrRxv induce a hypersensitive response (HR) in the tomato cultivar Hawaii 7998. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, we identified a 14-3-3 protein from tomato that interacts with AvrRxv called AvrRxv Interactor 1 (ARI1). The interaction was confirmed in vitro with affinity chromatography. Using mutagenesis, we identified a 14-3-3-binding domain in AvrRxv and demonstrated that a mutant in that domain showed concomitant loss of interaction with ARI1 and HR-inducing activity in tomato. These results demonstrate that the AvrRxv bacterial effector recruits 14-3-3 proteins for its function within host cells. AvrRxv homologues YopP and YopJ from Yersinia do not have AvrRxv-specific HR-inducing activity when delivered into tomato host cells by Agrobacterium. Although YopP itself cannot induce HR, its C-terminal domain containing the catalytic residues can replace that of AvrRxv in an AvrRxv-YopP chimera for HR-inducing activity. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the sequences encoding the C-termini of family members are evolving independently from those encoding the N-termini. Our results support a model in which there are three functional domains in proteins of the family, translocation, interaction, and catalytic.