title: Exogenous N-acyl-homoserine lactones enhance the expression of flagella of Pseudomonas syringae and activate defence responses in plants.
abstract: In order to cope with pathogens, plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to sense pathogenic attacks and to induce defence responses. The N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)-mediated quorum sensing in bacteria regulates diverse physiological processes, including those involved in pathogenicity. In this work, we study the interactions between AHL-producing transgenic tobacco plants and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci 11528 (P. syringae 11528). Both a reduced incidence of disease and decrease in the growth of P. syringae 11528 were observed in AHL-producing plants compared with wild-type plants. The present data indicate that plant-produced AHLs enhance disease resistance against this pathogen. Subsequent RNA-sequencing analysis showed that the exogenous addition of AHLs up-regulated the expression of P. syringae 11528 genes for flagella production. Expression levels of plant defence genes in AHL-producing and wild-type plants were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. These data showed that plant-produced AHLs activated a wide spectrum of defence responses in plants following inoculation, including the oxidative burst, hypersensitive response, cell wall strengthening, and the production of certain metabolites. These results demonstrate that exogenous AHLs alter the gene expression patterns of pathogens, and plant-produced AHLs either directly or indirectly enhance plant local immunity during the early stage of plant infection.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environment Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environment Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Anzhou
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6197-777X
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environment Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Guoqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Nottingham University, Loughborough, LE12 5RD, UK.
authors.forename: Rupert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Fray
mesh_terms: D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002452:Cell Count; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D005407:Flagella / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology; D044224:Pseudomonas syringae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
keywords: N-acyl-homoserine lactones, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci 11528; defence responses; quorum sensing; transgenic plants; virulence