Project description:Alternaria, a widespread fungal genus, infects a wide range of crops and produces various toxins, such as Tentoxin (TEN), Tenuazonic acid (TeA), Alternariol (AOH) during infection, leading to a major concern about safety of these crops. Although the toxin-producing ability varies among different Alternaria species, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, several Alternaria toxins were frequently detected in Tibetan barley (Hordeum vulgare var. coeleste Linnaeus) and wheat (Triticum aestivum Linn) in Tibet, especially TEN and TeA, which were detected in half of the crops. 153 barley and wheat samples collected from 5 different regions in Tibet were used for toxin detection/quantification, isolation and identification of the corresponding toxin producing fungi. According to levels of toxins produced in vivo, different isolates of Alternaria alternaria recovered from the above collected sampled were divided into three groups designated as high toxin-producing strains (HT), medium toxin-producing strains (LT) and no toxin-producing strains (NT). Metabolomics and transcriptomics were employed to investigate the potential mechanism of variations in toxin production among different isolates. Metabolomics analysis revealed high levels of amino acids and secondary metabolites in HT. Various precursors of TeA/TEN were also highly accumulated in HT, especially isoleucine ( which was one of essential gradients of TEN biosynthesis, which may account for high toxin production in HT strains in metabolome. Further transcriptome analysis revealed that the expression levels of genes relevant to precursors of TEN/TeA were higher in HT, especially CC77DRAFT_360136, CC77DRAFT_546209, CC77DRAFT_1033655 and CC77DRAFT_1090532, showing the molecular basis for toxin-producing variations among three strains. Importantly, our topological regulation network results identified the candidate genes that regulated these four genes involved in toxin-producing, and these genes may be essential for variations in toxin producing ability of these Alternaria strains. Overall, this comprehensive analysis expects to provide a better understanding to decipher the mechanism of toxicity based on molecular and metabolic levels.
Project description:Abscisic acid (ABA) has an important role in the responses of plants to pathogens due to its ability to induce stomatal closure and interact with salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA). WRKY transcription factors serve as antagonistic or synergistic regulators in the response of plants to a variety of pathogens. Here, we demonstrated that CmWRKY15, a group IIa WRKY family member, was not transcriptionally activated in yeast cells. Subcellular localization experiments in which onion epidermal cells were transiently transfected with CmWRKY15 indicated that CmWRKY15 localized to the nucleus in vivo. The expression of CmWRKY15 could be markedly induced by the presence of Alternaria tenuissima inoculum in chrysanthemum. Furthermore, the disease severity index (DSI) data of CmWRKY15-overexpressing plants indicated that CmWRKY15 overexpression enhanced the susceptibility of chrysanthemum to A. tenuissima infection compared to controls. To illustrate the mechanisms by which CmWRKY15 regulates the response to A. tenuissima inoculation, the expression levels of ABA-responsive and ABA signaling genes, such as ABF4, ABI4, ABI5, MYB2, RAB18, DREB1A, DREB2A, PYL2, PP2C, RCAR1, SnRK2.2, SnRK2.3, NCED3A, NCED3B, GTG1, AKT1, AKT2, KAT1, KAT2, and KC1were compared between transgenic plants and controls. In summary, our data suggest that CmWRKY15 might facilitate A. tenuissima infection by antagonistically regulating the expression of ABA-responsive genes and genes involved in ABA signaling, either directly or indirectly.