title: Constitutive expression of a novel antimicrobial protein, Hcm1, confers resistance to both Verticillium and Fusarium wilts in cotton.
abstract: Fusarium and Verticillium wilts, two of the most important diseases in cotton, pose serious threats to cotton production. Here we introduced a novel antimicrobial protein Hcm1, which comprised harpin protein from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc), and the chimeric protein, cecropin A-melittin, into cotton. The transgenic cotton lines with stable Hcm1 expression showed a higher resistance to Verticillium and Fusarium wilts both in greenhouse and field trials compared to controls. Hcm1 enabled the transgenic cotton to produced a microscopic hypersensitive response (micro-HR), reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst, and caused the activation of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes in response to biotic stress, indicating that the transgenic cotton was in a primed state and ready to protect the host from pathogenic infection. Simultaneously, Hcm1 protein inhibited the growth of Verticillium dahliae (V. dahliae) and Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum) in vitro. The spread of fungal biomass was also inhibited in vivo since the V. dahliae biomass was decreased dramatically in transgenic cotton plants after inoculation with V. dahliae. Together, these results demonstrate that Hcm1 could activate innate immunity and inhibit the growth of V. dahliae and F. oxysporum to protect cotton against Verticillium and Fusarium wilts.
authors: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics &Germplasm Enhancement, Cotton Research Institute, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors: Zhiyuan
authors: Z
authors: Zhang
authors: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics &Germplasm Enhancement, Cotton Research Institute, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Zhao
authors: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics &Germplasm Enhancement, Cotton Research Institute, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors: Lingyun
authors: L
authors: Ding
authors: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University/Key Laboratory of Urban (South) by Ministry of Agriculture, Shanghai, China.
authors: Lifang
authors: L
authors: Zou
authors: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University/Key Laboratory of Urban (South) by Ministry of Agriculture, Shanghai, China.
authors: Yurong
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University/Key Laboratory of Urban (South) by Ministry of Agriculture, Shanghai, China.
authors: Gongyou
authors: G
authors: Chen
authors: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics &Germplasm Enhancement, Cotton Research Institute, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China.
authors: Tianzhen
authors: T
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D060467:Disease Resistance; D005670:Fusarium / Q000254:growth & development*; D003368:Gossypium / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D020172:Verticillium / Q000254:growth & development*; D014974:Xanthomonas / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001426:Bacterial Proteins