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Artificial elevation of glutathione contents in salicylic acid‐deficient tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi NahG ) reduces susceptibility to the powdery mildew pathogen Euoidium longipes
Author(s) -
Künstler A.,
Kátay G.,
Gullner G.,
Király L.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plant biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.871
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1438-8677
pISSN - 1435-8603
DOI - 10.1111/plb.13030
Subject(s) - powdery mildew , nicotiana tabacum , biology , salicylic acid , glutathione , pathogen , microbiology and biotechnology , pseudomonas syringae , nicotiana , botany , solanaceae , biochemistry , gene , enzyme
The effects of elevated glutathione levels on defence responses to powdery mildew ( Euoidium longipes ) were investigated in a salicylic acid‐deficient tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi NahG ) and wild‐type cv. Xanthi plants, where salicylic acid (SA) contents are normal. Aqueous solutions of reduced glutathione (GSH) and its synthetic precursor R‐2‐oxothiazolidine‐4‐carboxylic acid (OTC) were injected into leaves of tobacco plants 3 h before powdery mildew inoculation. SA‐deficient NahG tobacco was hyper‐susceptible to E. longipes , as judged by significantly more severe powdery mildew symptoms and enhanced pathogen accumulation. Strikingly, elevation of GSH levels in SA‐deficient NahG tobacco restored susceptibility to E. longipes to the extent seen in wild‐type plants ( i.e. enhanced basal resistance). However, expression of the SA‐mediated pathogenesis‐related gene ( NtPR‐1a ) did not increase significantly in GSH or OTC‐pretreated and powdery mildew‐inoculated NahG tobacco, suggesting that the induction of this PR gene may not be directly involved in the defence responses induced by GSH. Our results demonstrate that artificial elevation of glutathione content can significantly reduce susceptibility to powdery mildew in SA‐deficient tobacco.