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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Grain Legume Genetics Physiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #404547
Research Project: Improving Genetic Resources and Disease Management for Cool Season Food Legumes

Location: Grain Legume Genetics Physiology Research

Title: Expression of a mycoparasite protease in plant petals suppresses the petal-mediated infection by necrotrophic pathogens

Author
item WANG, YONGCHUN - Huazhong Agricultural University
item YU, HAN - Huazhong Agricultural University
item XU, YUPING - Huazhong Agricultural University
item WU, MINGDE - Huazhong Agricultural University
item ZHANG, JING - Huazhong Agricultural University
item TSUDA, KENICHI - Huazhong Agricultural University
item LIU, SHENGYI - Huazhong Agricultural University
item JIANG, DAOHONG - Huazhong Agricultural University
item Chen, Weidong
item WEI, YANGDOU - University Of Saskatchewan
item LI, GUOQING - Huazhong Agricultural University
item YANG, LONG - Huazhong Agricultural University

Submitted to: Cell Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/29/2023
Publication Date: 10/23/2023
Citation: Wang, Y., Yu, H., Xu, Y., Wu, M., Zhang, J., Tsuda, K., Liu, S., Jiang, D., Chen, W., Wei, Y., Li, G., Yang, L. 2023. Expression of a mycoparasite protease in plant petals suppresses the petal-mediated infection by necrotrophic pathogens. Cell Reports. 42(11): e113290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113290.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113290

Interpretive Summary: Plant pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are devastating plant pathogens with very wide host ranges. High resistance to these two pathogens is lacking in many economically important crops. Both pathogens require succulent tissues such as flower petals for initiating infection. We found that an enzyme (CmSp1) from Coniothyrium minitans, which is a parasite fungus of Sclerotinia and Botrytis, can degrade fungal proteins and inhibit spore germination and growth of both Sclerotinia and Botrytis. Transgenic plants that produced the parasite enzyme had improved resistance to infection by both pathogens. These findings provide a new approach to engineer plant resistance and provide an environmentally friendly approach to disease management.

Technical Abstract: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are necrotrophic plant-pathogenic fungi, causing substantial economic losses on many crops. So far, highly resistant cultivars against these pathogens are unavailable in most crops. Here, we show that the serine protease CmSp1 of Coniothyrium minitans, a well-characterized mycoparasite of S. sclerotiorum, is contributed to suppressing the petal-mediated infection by S. sclerotiorum in rapeseed. Application of recombinant CmSp1 proteins facilitates the bulk degradation of S. sclerotiorum proteins and inhibits spore germination and hyphal growth of S. sclerotiorum and B. cinerea, thereby preventing the development of both diseases. Stable transgenic rapeseed plants with tissue-specific expression of CmSp1 in flower petals show a strong disease resistance against the petal-mediated infection by both S. sclerotiorum and B. cinerea, and resulting transgenic plants have no adverse effect on other agronomic traits. Our findings provide a novel mechanism by which a mycoparasite inhibits fungal pathogens and an environmentally friendly disease management strategy.