Cytokinin receptor CRE1 is required for the defense response of Nicotiana tabacum to Chilli veinal mottle virus

• Published in: Plant growth regulation Vol. 90; no. 3; pp. 545 - 555
• Main Authors: Zou, Wenshan, Chen, Lijuan, Zou, Jialing, Han, Hongyan, Fei, Chunyan, Lin, Honghui, Xi, Dehui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-04-2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Antioxidants; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Coat protein; Cytokinins; Deficient mutant; Disease resistance; Genetic transformation; Infections; Inoculation; Life Sciences; Nicotiana tabacum; Original Paper; Photosystem; Plant Anatomy/Development; Plant Physiology; Plant resistance; Plant Sciences; Tobacco; Transcription; Viruses; Plant defense; Cytokinin
• ISSN: 0167-6903; 1573-5087
• DOI: 10.1007/s10725-020-00579-3

As an important phytohormone, cytokinins confer resistance of plants to several fungal and bacterial pathogens. However, the discovery of cytokinins in the viral resistance of
Nicotiana tabacum
is seldom reported. In the current study, we obtained tobacco
CRE1
(cytokinin receptor 1) deficient mutants by
Agrobacterium
-mediated transformation utilizing the recombinant pRNAi-LIC-
CRE1
. Our conclusions indicated that
CRE1
deficiency increased the susceptibility of
N. tabacum
to
Chilli veinal mottle virus
(ChiVMV) infection. The
CRE1
deficient mutant plants displayed both more evident ChiVMV-induced symptom and higher transcription level of viral coat protein gene compared to the wild type (WT) plants. The antioxidant metabolism was altered in
CRE1
deficient plants under virus inoculation. Photosystem damages caused by virus were also more severe in
CRE1
deficient mutant plants compared to that in the WT plants. Additionally, expressions of several defense-related genes induced by ChiVMV infection were repressed in
CRE1
deficient plants. Taken all together, these results suggested that
CRE1
is required for
N. tabacum
defense responses to ChiVMV infection.