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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419991
Research Project: Disease Management and Improved Detection Systems for Control of Pathogens of Vegetables and Strawberries

Location: Crop Improvement and Protection Research

Title: Differential infection dynamics of Verticillium dahliae in dicotyledonous (cotton) versus monocotyledonous (maize) host systems

Author
item LIU, XIN-XIN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item HAO, SHI-JUN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item JI, XIAO-BIN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item WANG, JUN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item Klosterman, Steven
item DAI, XIAO-FENG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item SUBBARAO, KRISHNA - University Of California
item LIANG, WEN-XING - Qingdao Agricultural University
item ZHANG, DAN-DAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item CHEN, JIE-YIN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/28/2025
Publication Date: 5/5/2025
Citation: Liu, X.X., Hao, S.J., Ji, X.B., Wang, J., Klosterman, S.J., Dai, X., Subbarao, K.V., Liang, W., Zhang, D.D., Chen, J.Y. 2025. Differential infection dynamics of Verticillium dahliae in dicotyledonous (cotton) versus monocotyledonous (maize) host systems. Plant Disease. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-25-0114-SC.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-25-0114-SC

Interpretive Summary: Verticillium dahliae is a soilborne pathogenic fungus that causes wilt disease on hundreds of plant species, including many economically important crops. V. dahliae survives in the soil over the long term which makes it difficult to manage and eradicate. Crop rotations with asymptomatic and nonhost species are an environmentally sustainable alternative to soil fumigation for managing Verticillium wilts. However, in addition to the many economically important crops, V. dahliae can also infect a variety of other hosts and colonize monocots such as grasses without causing apparent disease symptoms. In this study, we examined the infection of both monocots and dicots to gain insight into the mechanism by which V. dahliae colonizes monocot plants. Based on the previous research on V. dahliae-monocot interactions, we compared the stages of V. dahliae infection in maize and cotton, a monocot and a dicot, respectively. We also analyzed the differences in the secretome during V. dahliae incubation with maize and cotton roots. The results suggest that secreted proteins, especially the repertoire of CAZyme, oxidoreductase and peptidase proteins, likely play important functions during the successful V. dahliae infection of cotton, unlike in maize. Some monocots may be more suitable for crop rotations to curb the propagation of V. dahliae in roots, and this may be the focus of additional research.

Technical Abstract: Verticillium dahliae, a soil-borne fungal pathogen, infects and causes wilt symptoms in dicot but not in monocot plants. The precise sequence of events when V. dahliae infects monocots remain unclear. In this study, we confirmed on several different hosts that V. dahliae can cause typical Verticillium wilt symptoms on dicots but not monocots. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) studies indicate that V. dahliae germinates, expands and initially penetrates both cotton (dicot) and maize (monocot) roots. While V. dahliae has been previously shown to colonize the root cortex in monocots, our work clearly revealed that the pathogen penetrates into the xylem but is unable to survive in the maize roots during early stages of colonization. Rather, the conidia and mycelia breakdown in maize, and remains of shrunken cells persist in the roots. Collectively, our results provide new clues on the sequence of events that occur when V. dahliae infects monocots versus dicots and may underlie Verticillium wilt symptoms on dicots but not monocots.