Open AccessA Virulence Essential CRN Effector of Phytophthora capsici Suppresses Host Defense and Induces Cell Death in Plant Nucleus
Author(s) -
Joseph Juma Mafurah,
Hai-Xia Ma,
Meixiang Zhang,
Jing Xu,
Feng He,
Tingyue Ye,
Danyu Shen,
Yanyu Chen,
Nasir Ahmed Rajput,
Daolong Dou
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0127965
Subject(s) - nicotiana benthamiana , phytophthora capsici , biology , effector , virulence , agroinfiltration , gene silencing , callose , programmed cell death , microbiology and biotechnology , arabidopsis thaliana , arabidopsis , hypersensitive response , phytophthora , gene , genetics , botany , apoptosis , mutant
Phytophthora capsici is a soil-borne plant pathogen with a wide range of hosts. The pathogen secretes a large array of effectors during infection of host plants, including Crinkler (CRN) effectors. However, it remains largely unknown on the roles of these effectors in virulence especially in P . capsici . In this study, we identified a cell death-inducing CRN effector PcCRN4 using agroinfiltration approach. Transient expression of PcCRN4 gene induced cell death in N . benthamiana , N . tabacum and Solanum lycopersicum . Overexpression of the gene in N . benthamiana enhanced susceptibility to P . capsici . Subcellular localization results showed that PcCRN4 localized to the plant nucleus, and the localization was required for both of its cell death-inducing activity and virulent function. Silencing PcCRN4 gene in P . capsici significantly reduced pathogen virulence. The expression of the pathogenesis-related gene PR1b in N . benthamiana was significantly induced when plants were inoculated with PcCRN4 -silenced P . capsici transformant compared to the wilt-type. Callose deposits were also abundant at sites inoculated with PcCRN4 -silenced transformant, indicating that silencing of PcCRN4 in P . capsici reduced the ability of the pathogen to suppress plant defenses. Transcriptions of cell death-related genes were affected when PcCRN4 -silenced line were inoculated on Arabidopsis thaliana , suggesting that PcCRN4 may induce cell death by manipulating cell death-related genes. Overall, our results demonstrate that PcCRN4 is a virulence essential effector and it needs target to the plant nucleus to suppress plant immune responses.