Alpha-momorcharin enhances Nicotiana benthamiana resistance to tobacco mosaic virus infection through modulation of reactive oxygen species.

ABSTRACT: Alpha-momorcharin (?-MMC), a member of the plant ribosomal inactivating proteins (RIPs) family, has been proven to exhibit important biological properties in animals, including antiviral, antimicrobial, and antitumour activities. However, the mechanism by which ?-MMC increases plant resistance to viral infections remains unclear. To study the effect of ?-MMC on plant viral defence and how ?-MMC increases plant resistance to viruses, recombinant DNA and transgenic technologies were employed to investigate the role of ?-MMC in Nicotiana benthamiana resistance to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection. Treatment with ?-MMC produced through DNA recombinant technology or overexpression of ?-MMC mediated by transgenic technology alleviated TMV-induced oxidative damage and reduced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during TMV-green fluorescent protein infection of N. benthamiana. There was a significant decrease in TMV replication in the upper leaves following local ?-MMC treatment and in ?-MMC-overexpressing plants relative to control plants. These results suggest that application or overexpression of ?-MMC in N. benthamiana increases resistance to TMV infection. Finally, our results showed that overexpression of ?-MMC up-regulated the expression of ROS scavenging-related genes. ?-MMC confers resistance to TMV infection by means of modulating ROS homeostasis through controlling the expression of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes. Overall, our study revealed a new crosstalk mechanism between ?-MMC and ROS during resistance to viral infection and provides a framework to understand the molecular mechanisms of ?-MMC in plant defence against viral pathogens.

SUBMITTER: Zhu F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7411664 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature