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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #403138
Research Project: Disease Management and Improved Detection Systems for Control of Pathogens of Vegetables and Strawberries

Location: Crop Improvement and Protection Research

Title: Functional characterization of Verticillium dahliae race 3-specific gene VdR3e in virulence and elicitation of plant immune responses

Author
item TAN, QIAN - Qingdao Agricultural University
item LI, RAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item LIU, LEI - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item WANG, DAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item DAI, XIAO-FENG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item SONG, LI-MIN - Qingdao Agricultural University
item ZHANG, DAN-DAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item KONG, ZHI-QIANG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item Klosterman, Steven
item USAMI, TOSHIYUKI - Chiba University
item SUBBARAO, KRISHNA - University Of California
item LIANG, XING - Qingdao Agricultural University
item CHEN, JIE-YIN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: Microbiology Spectrum
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/4/2023
Publication Date: 6/28/2023
Citation: Tan, Q., Li, R., Liu, L., Wang, D., Dai, X.F., Song, L.M., Zhang, D.D., Kong, Z.Q., Klosterman, S.J., Usami, T., Subbarao, K.V., Liang, W.X., Chen, J.Y. 2023. Functional characterization of Verticillium dahliae race 3-specific gene VdR3e in virulence and elicitation of plant immune responses. Microbiology Spectrum. 11(4). Article e01083-23. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01083-23.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01083-23

Interpretive Summary: The fungus Verticillium dahliae is a soilborne plant pathogen that penetrates plant roots, and invades the water conducting xylem tissue of the plant to cause wilt. This work characterizes the protein VdR3e from this pathogen required for virulence in its tomato host, and also, depending on the cultivar, confers resistance to tomato following its recognition. It is not required for normal growth and morphology of the fungus. This study dissects role of VdR3e in modulating virulence and the signaling that occurs for the plant resistance response, and knowledge on how these products function is useful to quickly identify cultivars of tomato or potentially other crops with resistance to Verticillium wilt.

Technical Abstract: Verticillium dahliae is a soilborne fungal pathogen that causes disease on many economically important crops. Based on the resistance or susceptibility of differential cultivars in tomato, isolates of V. dahliae are divided into three races. Avirulence (avr) genes within the genomes of the three races have also been identified. However, the functional role of the avr gene in race 3 isolates of V. dahliae has not been characterized. In this study, bioinformatics analysis showed that VdR3e, a cysteinerich secreted protein encoded by the gene characterizing race 3 in V. dahliae, was likely obtained by horizontal gene transfer from the fungal genus Bipolaris. We demonstrate that VdR3e causes cell death by triggering multiple defense responses. In addition, VdR3e localized at the periphery of the plant cell and triggered immunity depending on its subcellular localization and the cell membrane receptor BAK1. Furthermore, VdR3e is a virulence factor and shows differential pathogenicity in race 3-resistant and -susceptible hosts. These results suggest that VdR3e is a virulence factor that can also interact with BAK1 as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) to trigger immune responses.