A hypersensitive response was induced by virulent bacteria in transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing a plant ferredoxin-like protein (PFLP)

• Published in: Physiological and molecular plant pathology 2004-02, Vol.64 (2), p.103-110
• Main Authors: Huang, Hsiang-En, Ger, Mang-Jye, Yip, Mei-Kuen, Chen, Chao-Ying, Pandey, Ajay-Kumar, Feng, Teng-Yung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Bacterial plant pathogens; Biological and medical sciences; biosynthesis; Biotechnology; Capsicum; Classical and quantitative genetics. Population genetics. Molecular genetics; disease resistance; Erwinia carotovora; Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora; Ferredoxin-like protein; ferredoxins; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gene expression; Generalities. Genetics. Plant material; Genetic engineering applications; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; hsr203j; hydrogen peroxide; hypersensitive response; Molecular genetics; molecular sequence data; Nicotiana tabacum; nucleotide sequences; Pathology. Damages, economic importance; Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum; Pest resistance; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Plant breeding: fundamental aspects and methodology; plant pathogenic bacteria; Plant pathogens; plant proteins; Pseudomonas syringae; Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci; resistance mechanisms; sweet peppers; tobacco; transgenes; transgenic plants; Varietal selection. Specialized plant breeding, plant breeding aims
• ISSN: 0885-5765; 1096-1178
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pmpp.2004.05.005

The hypersensitive response (HR) displayed by resistance plants against invading pathogens is a prominent feature of an incompatible plant pathogen interaction. It has been shown that tobacco cell cultures transgenic for a plant ferredoxin-like protein (PFLP) that functions as an electron acceptor of Photosystem I increased harpin-mediate HR. In this work we report increased bacterial disease resistance of pflp transgenic tobacco. Compared to the controls, four distinctive characteristics were found in the pflp-transgenics after inoculation with virulent bacterial cells Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci: (i) instead of typical disease symptoms, an HR-like necrosis was observed; (ii) the proliferation of the virulent pathogen was highly retarded; (iii) the expression of hsr203j, an HR marker gene, was apparently induced; (iv)H 2O 2 accumulation was induced immediately. Together, those results demonstrate that enhanced production of PFLP in the transgenic plant conditions the induction of a hypersensitive response during compatible pathogen attack.