Tomato yellow leaf curl virus infection of a resistant tomato line with a silenced sucrose transporter gene LeHT1 results in inhibition of growth, enhanced virus spread, and necrosis

• Published in: Planta 2010-02, Vol.231 (3), p.537-548
• Main Authors: Eybishtz, Assaf, Peretz, Yuval, Sade, Dagan, Gorovits, Rena, Czosnek, Henryk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Base Sequence; Begomovirus - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Complementary DNA; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Ecology; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Silencing; Hexoses; Immunity, Innate - genetics; Infections; Inoculation; Leaves; Life Sciences; Lycopersicon esculentum - genetics; Lycopersicon esculentum - growth & development; Lycopersicon esculentum - virology; Membrane Transport Proteins - chemistry; Membrane Transport Proteins - genetics; Membrane Transport Proteins - metabolism; Molecular Sequence Data; Necrosis; Original Article; Oxidative Stress; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Plant diseases; Plant Diseases - virology; Plant growth; Plant Proteins - chemistry; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plant Sciences; Plant viruses and viroids; Plants; Polymerase chain reaction; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Tomatoes; Viruses
• ISSN: 0032-0935; 1432-2048
• DOI: 10.1007/s00425-009-1072-6

To identify genes involved in resistance of tomato to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), cDNA libraries from lines resistant (R) and susceptible (S) to the virus were compared. The hexose transporter LeHT1 was found to be expressed preferentially in R tomato plants. The role of LeHT1 in the establishment of TYLCV resistance was studied in R plants where LeHT1 has been silenced using Tobacco rattle virus-induced gene silencing (TRV VIGS). Following TYLCV inoculation, LeHT1-silenced R plants showed inhibition of growth and enhanced virus accumulation and spread. In addition, a necrotic response was observed along the stem and petioles of infected LeHT1-silenced R plants, but not on infected not-silenced R plants. This response was specific of R plants since it was absent in infected LeHT1-silenced S plants. Necrosis had several characteristics of programmed cell death (PCD): DNA from necrotic tissues presented a PCD-characteristic ladder pattern, the amount of a JNK analogue increased, and production of reactive oxygen was identified by DAB staining. A similar necrotic reaction along stem and petioles was observed in LeHT1-silenced R plants infected with the DNA virus Bean dwarf mosaic virus and the RNA viruses Cucumber mosaic virus and Tobacco mosaic virus. These results constitute the first evidence for a necrotic response backing natural resistance to TYLCV in tomato, confirming that plant defense is organized in multiple layers. They demonstrate that the hexose transporter LeHT1 is essential for the expression of natural resistance against TYLCV and its expression correlates with inhibition of virus replication and movement.