Open AccessMolecular insight into cotton leaf curl geminivirus disease resistance in cultivated cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum )
Author(s) -
Zaidi Syed ShaneAli,
Naqvi Rubab Zahra,
Asif Muhammad,
Strickler Susan,
Shakir Sara,
Shafiq Muhammad,
Khan Abdul Manan,
Amin Imran,
Mishra Bharat,
Mukhtar M. Shahid,
Scheffler Brian E.,
Scheffler Jodi A.,
Mueller Lukas A.,
Mansoor Shahid
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plant biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.525
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1467-7652
pISSN - 1467-7644
DOI - 10.1111/pbi.13236
Subject(s) - biology , gossypium hirsutum , leaf curl , plant disease resistance , resistance (ecology) , malvaceae , agronomy , fiber crop , botany , plant virus , gene , genetics , virus
Summary Cultivated cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum ) is the most important fibre crop in the world. Cotton leaf curl disease ( CLC uD) is the major limiting factor and a threat to textile industry in India and Pakistan. All the local cotton cultivars exhibit moderate to no resistance against CLC uD. In this study, we evaluated an exotic cotton accession Mac7 as a resistance source to CLC uD by challenging it with viruliferous whiteflies and performing qPCR to evaluate the presence/absence and relative titre of CLC uD‐associated geminiviruses/betasatellites. The results indicated that replication of pathogenicity determinant betasatellite is significantly attenuated in Mac7 and probably responsible for resistance phenotype. Afterwards, to decipher the genetic basis of CLC uD resistance in Mac7, we performed RNA sequencing on CLC uD‐infested Mac7 and validated RNA ‐Seq data with qPCR on 24 independent genes. We performed co‐expression network and pathway analysis for regulation of geminivirus/betasatellite‐interacting genes. We identified nine novel modules with 52 hubs of highly connected genes in network topology within the co‐expression network. Analysis of these hubs indicated the differential regulation of auxin stimulus and cellular localization pathways in response to CLC uD. We also analysed the differential regulation of geminivirus/betasatellite‐interacting genes in Mac7. We further performed the functional validation of selected candidate genes via virus‐induced gene silencing ( VIGS ). Finally, we evaluated the genomic context of resistance responsive genes and found that these genes are not specific to A or D sub‐genomes of G. hirsutum . These results have important implications in understanding CLC uD resistance mechanism and developing a durable resistance in cultivated cotton.