Li Fuguang's Team Found New Genes Resistant To Cotton Verticillium Wilt

Recently, the Li Fuguang team of the Cotton Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has systematically studied the function and mechanism of ribosomal protein gene GhRPL18A-6 in cotton resistance to Verticillium wilt. The relevant research results are published online in Industrial Crops and Products.

The research team found that the gene could regulate cell wall synthesis, lignin synthesis and other disease resistance related gene expression, and increase the resistance level of transgenic cotton in multiple growth stages. This study provided a way to analyze Cotton Verticillium wilt resistance and provided new resistance genes and germplasm resources for molecular breeding of resistant varieties.

Cotton is the most important natural fiber material in the world. Cotton Verticillium wilt is called cotton "cancer". It is very difficult to control. The annual loss caused by Verticillium wilt is as high as billions of dollars. Overcoming Verticillium wilt has become the primary task of cotton sustainable development. The genetic background of upland cotton is narrow and lacks of germplasm resources of Verticillium wilt resistance. It is very difficult to breed resistant varieties in short term by traditional breeding methods. Therefore, it is important to mine Verticillium wilt resistance genes to improve the resistance of Cotton Cultivars to Verticillium wilt.

By interfering with the expression of GhARPL18A-6 gene, the researchers showed that cotton was sensitive to Verticillium dahliae (Verticillium dahliae). Combined with the expression pattern of the gene under the infection of the pathogen, GhARPL18A-6 was confirmed to be involved in the disease resistance regulation of cotton. Identification of Verticillium wilt resistance at seedling stage and identification of disease resistance at the adult stage of transgenic plants showed that over expression of GhARPL18A-6 could enhance Verticillium Wilt Resistance in cotton. Further studies showed that under the condition of Verticillium dahliae infection, lignification and reactive oxygen species outbreaks of xylem parenchyma cell walls were more obvious than that of recipient materials, and the colonization of Verticillium dahliae in stems and roots was less, and the expression levels of marker genes related to disease resistance were more significantly up-regulated. The expression profiles showed that the transgenic materials were different from the control group in the expression of cell wall synthesis, lignin biosynthesis, sucrose metabolism and other related genes after inoculation with Verticillium dahliae.

The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the science and technology innovation project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Related papers: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.111742

China Science Journal (2019-09-17 fifth edition agricultural science and Technology)