Final published version
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Developmentally regulated generation of a systemic signal for long‐lasting defence priming in tomato
AU - Stevens, Katie
AU - Roberts, Michael R.
AU - Jeynes‐Cupper, Katie
AU - Majeed, Lamya
AU - Pastor, Victoria
AU - Catoni, Marco
AU - Luna, Estrella
PY - 2024/11/19
Y1 - 2024/11/19
N2 - Summary: Tomato is a major global crop. However, its production is limited by Botrytis cinerea. Due to the toxicity of postharvest pesticide application, alternative control methods such as priming are being investigated. Plants were treated with β‐aminobutyric acid (BABA) at two developmental stages and resistance against B. cinerea was tested in fruit tissue and in progenies. DNA methylation and RNA sequencing were conducted to characterise the (epi)genetic changes associated with long‐lasting resistance. Grafting experiments were done to assess the systemic nature of this signal, which was further characterised by small RNA (sRNA) sequencing of scions. Only BABA‐treated seedlings displayed induced resistance (IR). DNA methylation analysis revealed seedling‐specific changes, which occurred in the context of lower basal methylation. BABA‐IR was found to be transmissible from primed rootstock to grafted unprimed scions. In these scions, we identified a subset of mobile 24 nt sRNAs associated with genes showing primed expression during infection in fruit. Our results demonstrate the functional association of a systemic signal with long‐lasting IR and priming. Through integrated omics approaches, we have identified markers of long‐lasting priming in tomato fruit which could also serve as targets for durable resistance in other crops.
AB - Summary: Tomato is a major global crop. However, its production is limited by Botrytis cinerea. Due to the toxicity of postharvest pesticide application, alternative control methods such as priming are being investigated. Plants were treated with β‐aminobutyric acid (BABA) at two developmental stages and resistance against B. cinerea was tested in fruit tissue and in progenies. DNA methylation and RNA sequencing were conducted to characterise the (epi)genetic changes associated with long‐lasting resistance. Grafting experiments were done to assess the systemic nature of this signal, which was further characterised by small RNA (sRNA) sequencing of scions. Only BABA‐treated seedlings displayed induced resistance (IR). DNA methylation analysis revealed seedling‐specific changes, which occurred in the context of lower basal methylation. BABA‐IR was found to be transmissible from primed rootstock to grafted unprimed scions. In these scions, we identified a subset of mobile 24 nt sRNAs associated with genes showing primed expression during infection in fruit. Our results demonstrate the functional association of a systemic signal with long‐lasting IR and priming. Through integrated omics approaches, we have identified markers of long‐lasting priming in tomato fruit which could also serve as targets for durable resistance in other crops.
KW - sRNA
KW - DNA methylation
KW - postharvest
KW - β‐aminobutyric acid
KW - grafting
KW - Botrytis cinerea
U2 - 10.1111/nph.20288
DO - 10.1111/nph.20288
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 39562729
VL - 245
SP - 1145
EP - 1157
JO - New Phytologist
JF - New Phytologist
SN - 0028-646X
IS - 3
ER -