Stemphylium lycopersici Nep1-like Protein (NLP) Is a Key Virulence Factor in Tomato Gray Leaf Spot Disease

Journal of Fungi

Jiuhai Zhao¹  Jiajie Lian²  Hongyu Han²  Xizhan Chen²  Qian Chen²  Chuanyou Li³ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China;State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Agriculture, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China;

关键词: Stemphylium lycopersici;    NLP;    tomato;    grey leaf spot disease;   

DOI  :  10.3390/jof8050518

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The fungus Stemphylium lycopersici (S. lycopersici) is an economically important plant pathogen that causes grey leaf spot disease in tomato. However, functional genomic studies in S. lycopersici are lacking, and the factors influencing its pathogenicity remain largely unknown. Here, we present the first example of genetic transformation and targeted gene replacement in S. lycopersici. We functionally analyzed the NLP gene, which encodes a necrosis- and ethylene-inducing peptide 1 (Nep1)-like protein (NLP). We found that targeted disruption of the NLP gene in S. lycopersici significantly compromised its virulence on tomato. Moreover, our data suggest that NLP affects S. lycopersici conidiospore production and weakly affects its adaptation to osmotic and oxidative stress. Interestingly, we found that NLP suppressed the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in tomato leaves during S. lycopersici infection. Further, expressing the fungal NLP in tomato resulted in constitutive transcription of immune-responsive genes and inhibited plant growth. Through gene manipulation, we demonstrated the function of NLP in S. lycopersici virulence and development. Our work provides a paradigm for functional genomics studies in a non-model fungal pathogen system.

【 授权许可】

Unknown