Involvement of miRNAs-mediated senescence and salicylic acid defense in postharvest litchi downy blight

Chunxiao Yin; Lihong Xie; Yanfei Wu; Hongxia Qu; Bao Yang; Liang Gong; Yueming Jiang; Taotao Li

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134662

Involvement of miRNAs-mediated senescence and salicylic acid defense in postharvest litchi downy blight

Food Chem. 2023 Mar 15;404(Pt B):134662. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134662. Epub 2022 Oct 19.

Authors

Chunxiao Yin¹, Lihong Xie², Yanfei Wu², Hongxia Qu³, Bao Yang³, Liang Gong³, Yueming Jiang³, Taotao Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany & Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany & Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany & Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; Key Laboratory of Postharvest Handling of Fruits of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany & Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; Key Laboratory of Postharvest Handling of Fruits of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China. Electronic address: taotaoli@scbg.ac.cn.

PMID: 36283303
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134662

Abstract

Litchi downy blight, caused by Peronophythora litchii, results in decline of market value of litchi fruit. In this study, roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating litchi fruit response to P. litchii infection was investigated. Results showed that P. litchii infection decreased anthocyanin content while accelerating fruit senescence. Salicylic acid (SA) content was also altered by P. litchii infection. Meanwhile, expression levels of LcmiR159, LcmiR828, LcmiR160 and LcmiR167 were investigated using stem-loop real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Then, we identified LcGAMYB, LcTT2, LcARF18 and LcARF8 as their target genes, respectively, based on RNA Ligase-Mediated (RLM)-5'-RACE, transient co-expression assay in Nicotiana benthamiana as well as expression change of target genes. Our results suggested that LcmiR159-LcGAMYB and LcmiR828-LcTT2 modules participated in litchi downy blight possibly through regulating fruit senescence while LcmiR160-LcARF18 and LcmiR167-LcARF8 through SA-mediated defense response. This study provides new knowledge on deployment of miRNAs to increase litchi fruit resistance against fungal disease.

Keywords: Defense response; Litchi; Peronophythora litchi; Postharvest disease; microRNA.

MeSH terms

Fruit / genetics
Fruit / microbiology
Litchi* / metabolism
MicroRNAs* / genetics
MicroRNAs* / metabolism
Phytophthora* / physiology
Salicylic Acid / metabolism

Substances

Salicylic Acid
MicroRNAs