title: NPR1 and EDS11 contribute to host resistance against Fusarium culmorum in Arabidopsis buds and flowers.
abstract: The cereal ear blight fungal pathogen Fusarium culmorum can infect Arabidopsis floral tissue, causing disease symptoms and mycotoxin production. Here we assessed the effect of seven mutants and one transgenic overexpression line, residing in either the salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) or ethylene (ET) defence signalling pathways, on the outcome of the Fusarium-Arabidopsis floral interaction. The bacterial susceptiblity mutant eds11 was also assessed. Flowering plants were spray inoculated with F. culmorum conidia to determine the host responses to initial infection and subsequent colonization. Enhanced susceptibility and higher concentrations of deoxynivalenol mycotoxin were observed in buds and flowers of the npr1 and eds11 mutants than in the wild-type Col-0 plants. An effect of the other two defence signalling pathways on disease was either absent (ET/JA combined), absent/minimal (ET) or inconclusive (JA). Overall, this study highlights a role for NPR1 and EDS11 in basal defence against F. culmorum in some floral organs. This is the first time that any of these well-characterized defence signalling mutations have been evaluated for a role in floral defence in any plant species.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Pest and Disease Management, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL52JQ, UK.
authors.forename: Alayne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cuzick
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gezan
authors.forename: Kim E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Hammond-Kosack
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D005670:Fusarium / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics; D018519:Meristem / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C105496:NPR1 protein, Arabidopsis