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Silencing of an α-dioxygenase gene, Ca-DOX, retards growth and suppresses basal disease resistance responses in Capsicum annum

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Abstract

Alpha-dioxygenases (α-DOX) catalyzing the primary oxygenation of fatty acids to oxylipins were recently found in plants. Here, the biological roles of the pepper α-DOX (Ca-DOX) gene, which is strongly induced during non-host pathogen infection in chili pepper, were examined. Virus-induced gene silencing demonstrated that down-regulation of Ca-DOX enhanced susceptibility to bacterial pathogens and suppressed the hypersensitive response via the suppression of pathogenesis-related genes such as PR4, proteinase inhibitor II and lipid transfer protein (PR14). Ca-DOX-silenced pepper plants also exhibited more retarded growth with lower epidermal cell numbers and reduced cell wall thickness than control plants. To better understand regulation of Ca-DOX, transgenic Arabidopsis plants harboring the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene driven from a putative Ca-DOX promoter were generated. GUS expression was significantly induced upon avirulent pathogen infection in transgenic Arabidopsis leaves, whereas GUS induction was relatively weak upon virulent pathogen treatment. After treatment with plant hormones, early and strong GUS expression was seen after treatment of salicylic acid, whereas ethylene and methyl jasmonate treatments produced relatively weak and late GUS signals. These results will enable us to further understand the role of α-DOX, which is important in lipid metabolism, defense responses, and growth development in plants.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Dinesh Kumar for providing the pTRV1 and pTRV2 constructs. This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (NRF-2009-0090805), and by the KRIBB initiative program to JMP funded by the Korean government (MSIP: Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning).

Author’s contributions

CEH and YIH carried out the VIGS in pepper, characterized silenced pepper plants and gene expression analysis. CEH conducted the histochemical staining for GUS, and promoter analysis. AYS, JYM, JYL helped characterizing transgenic Arabidopsis plants and analysis of the results; JMP, YIH, and CEH analyzed and discussed the data and wrote the manuscript; JMP conceived and designed the study; CJP, GMY and SYK participated in experiment design and integrated analysis of results. CEH, IHJ and JMP edited and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final submission.

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  1. Jiyoung Lee

    Present address: Biological Resource Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Jeongeup, 56212, South Korea

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Systems Engineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Deajeon, 34141, South Korea

    Chi Eun Hong, Young-Im Ha, Hyoju Choi, Ju Yeon Moon, Jiyoung Lee, Ah-Young Shin, Suk-Yoon Kwon & Jeong Mee Park

  2. Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34113, South Korea

    Hyoju Choi, Suk-Yoon Kwon & Jeong Mee Park

  3. Department of Bioresources Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, 05006, South Korea

    Chang Jin Park

  4. Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Gyeong Mee Yoon

  5. Department of Herbal Crop Research, National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, RDA, Eumseong, 27709, South Korea

    Chi Eun Hong & Ick-Hyun Jo

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  1. Chi Eun Hong
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Correspondence to Jeong Mee Park.

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Chi Eun Hong and Young-Im Ha have contributed equally to this work.

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Hong, C.E., Ha, YI., Choi, H. et al. Silencing of an α-dioxygenase gene, Ca-DOX, retards growth and suppresses basal disease resistance responses in Capsicum annum . Plant Mol Biol 93, 497–509 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-016-0575-3

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