CaREM1.4 interacts with CaRIN4 to regulate Ralstonia solanacearum tolerance by triggering cell death in pepper

Yanqin Zhang; Shuangyuan Guo; Feng Zhang; Pengfei Gan; Min Li; Cong Wang; Huankun Li; Gang Gao; Xiaojie Wang; Zhensheng Kang; Xinmei Zhang

doi:10.1093/hr/uhad053

CaREM1.4 interacts with CaRIN4 to regulate Ralstonia solanacearum tolerance by triggering cell death in pepper

Hortic Res. 2023 Mar 28;10(5):uhad053. doi: 10.1093/hr/uhad053. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Yanqin Zhang^{1

2}, Shuangyuan Guo^{1

2}, Feng Zhang^{1

2}, Pengfei Gan^{1

2}, Min Li^{1

2}, Cong Wang³, Huankun Li^{1

2}, Gang Gao³, Xiaojie Wang^{1

2}, Zhensheng Kang^{1

2}, Xinmei Zhang^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 Shaanxi, China.
³ College of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan 030000, Shanxi, China.
⁴ College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China.

Abstract

Remorins, plant-specific proteins, have a significant role in conferring on plants the ability to adapt to adverse environments. However, the precise function of remorins in resistance to biological stress remains largely unknown. Eighteen CaREM genes were identified in pepper genome sequences based on the C-terminal conserved domain that is specific to remorin proteins in this research. Phylogenetic relations, chromosomal localization, motif, gene structures, and promoter regions of these remorins were analyzed and a remorin gene, CaREM1.4, was cloned for further study. The transcription of CaREM1.4 in pepper was induced by infection with Ralstonia solanacearum. Knocking down CaREM1.4 in pepper using virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technologies reduced the resistance of pepper plants to R. solanacearum and downregulated the expression of immunity-associated genes. Conversely, transient overexpression of CaREM1.4 in pepper and Nicotiana benthamiana plants triggered hypersensitive response-mediated cell death and upregulated expression of defense-related genes. In addition, CaRIN4-12, which interacted with CaREM1.4 at the plasma membrane and cell nucleus, was knocked down with VIGS, decreasing the susceptibility of Capsicum annuum to R. solanacearum. Furthermore, CaREM1.4 reduced ROS production by interacting with CaRIN4-12 upon co-injection in pepper. Taken together, our findings suggest that CaREM1.4 may function as a positive regulator of the hypersensitive response, and it interacts with CaRIN4-12, which negatively regulates plant immune responses of pepper to R. solanacearum. Our study provides new evidence for comprehending the molecular regulatory network of plant cell death.