Host-Induced Gene Silencing of an Adenylate Kinase Gene Involved in Fungal Energy Metabolism Improves Plant Resistance to Verticillium dahliae
Open Access
- 12 January 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Biomolecules
- Vol. 10 (1), 127
- https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10010127
Abstract
Verticillium wilt, caused by the ascomycete fungus Verticillium dahliae (Vd), is a devastating disease of numerous plant species. However, the pathogenicity/virulence-related genes in this fungus, which may be potential targets for improving plant resistance, remain poorly elucidated. For the study of these genes in Vd, we used a well-established host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) approach and identified 16 candidate genes, including a putative adenylate kinase gene (VdAK). Transiently VdAK-silenced plants developed milder wilt symptoms than control plants did. VdAK-knockout mutants were more sensitive to abiotic stresses and had reduced germination and virulence on host plants. Transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana plants that overexpressed VdAK dsRNAs had improved Vd resistance than the wild-type. RT-qPCR results showed that VdAK was also crucial for energy metabolism. Importantly, in an analysis of total small RNAs from Vd strains isolated from the transgenic plants, a small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting VdAK was identified in transgenic N. benthamiana. Our results demonstrate that HIGS is a promising strategy for efficiently screening pathogenicity/virulence-related genes of Vd and that VdAK is a potential target to control this fungus.Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (31701861 and 31772244)
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China (2019ZX08010-004 and 201503109)
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