Identification of sugar transporter genes and their roles in the pathogenicity of Verticillium dahliae on cotton

Lihua Chen; Bin Chen; Qian-Hao Zhu; Xinyu Zhang; Tiange Sun; Feng Liu; Yonglin Yang; Jie Sun; Yanjun Li

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1123523

Identification of sugar transporter genes and their roles in the pathogenicity of Verticillium dahliae on cotton

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jan 26:14:1123523. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1123523. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Lihua Chen¹, Bin Chen¹, Qian-Hao Zhu², Xinyu Zhang¹, Tiange Sun¹, Feng Liu¹, Yonglin Yang³, Jie Sun¹, Yanjun Li¹

Affiliations

¹ The Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-agriculture, Agriculture College, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China.
² CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Canberra, Australia.
³ Cotton Research Institute, Shihezi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shihezi, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Verticillium wilt (VW) caused by Verticillium dahliae is a soil-borne vascular fungal disease that severely affects cotton yield and fiber quality. Sugar metabolism plays an important role in the growth and pathogenicity of V. dahliae. However, limited information is known about the sugar transporter genes and their roles in the growth and pathogenicity of V. dahliae.

Method: In this study, genome-wide identification of sugar transporter genes in V. dahliae was conducted and the expression profiles of these genes in response to root exudates from cotton varieties susceptible or resistant to V. dahliae were investigated based on RNA-seq data. Tobacco Rattle Virus-based host-induced gene silencing (TRV-based HIGS) and artificial small interfering RNAs (asiRNAs) were applied to investigate the function of candidate genes involved in the growth and pathogenic process of V. dahliae.

Results: A total of 65 putative sugar transporter genes were identified and clustered into 8 Clades. Of the 65 sugar transporter genes, 9 were found to be induced only by root exudates from the susceptible variety, including VdST3 and VdST12 that were selected for further functional study. Silencing of VdST3 or VdST12 in host plants by TRV-based HIGS reduced fungal biomass and enhanced cotton resistance against V. dahliae. Additionally, silencing of VdST12 and VdST3 by feeding asiRNAs targeting VdST12 (asiR815 or asiR1436) and VdST3 (asiR201 or asiR1238) inhibited fungal growth, exhibiting significant reduction in hyphae and colony diameter, with a more significant effect observed for the asiRNAs targeting VdST12. The inhibitory effect of asiRNAs on the growth of V. dahliae was enhanced with the increasing concentration of asiRNAs. Silencing of VdST12 by feeding asiR815+asiR1436 significantly decreased the pathogenicity of V. dahliae.

Discussion: The results suggest that VdST3 and VdST12 are sugar transporter genes required for growth and pathogenicity of V. dahliae and that asiRNA is a valuable tool for functional characterization of V. dahliae genes.

Keywords: HIGS; asiRNA; cotton; sugar transporter; verticillium dahliae.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32160615), the International S&T Cooperation Projects of BINGTUAN (No. 2021BC001) and the Key Research and Development Program of Shihezi City (No. 2021NY01).