Kiwifruit Resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae and Defence Induction by Acibenzolar-S-methyl and Methyl Jasmonate Are Cultivar Dependent.

Pathogen susceptibility and defence gene inducibility were compared between the Actinidia arguta cultivar 'Hortgem Tahi' and the two cultivars of A. chinensis 'Hayward' and 'Zesy002'. Plants were treated with acibenzolar-s-methyl (ASM) or methyl jasmonate (MeJA) one week before inoculation with Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa biovar3) or Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, or secondary induction with chitosan+glucan (Ch-Glu) as a potential pathogen proxy. Defence expression was evaluated by measuring the expression of 18 putative defence genes. 'Hortgem Tahi' was highly susceptible to sclerotinia and very resistant to Psa, whereas 'Zesy002' was highly resistant to both, and 'Hayward' was moderately susceptible to both. Gene expression in 'Hayward' and 'Zesy002' was alike but differed significantly from 'Hortgem Tahi' which had higher basal levels of PR1-i, PR5-i, JIH1, NPR3 and WRKY70 but lower expression of RD22 and PR2-i. Treatment with ASM caused upregulation of NIMIN2, PR1-i, WRKY70, DMR6 and PR5-i in all cultivars and induced resistance to Psa in 'Zesy002' and 'Hayward' but decreased resistance to sclerotinia in 'Zesy002'. MeJA application caused upregulation of LOX2 and downregulation of NIMIN2, DMR6 and PR2-i but did not affect disease susceptibility. The Ch-Glu inducer induced PR-gene families in each cultivar, highlighting its possible effectiveness as an alternative to actual pathogen inoculation. The significance of variations in fundamental and inducible gene expression among the cultivars is explored.

Effects of Drought and Flooding on Phytohormones and Abscisic Acid Gene Expression in Kiwifruit.

Environmental extremes, such as drought and flooding, are becoming more common with global warming, resulting in significant crop losses. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the plant water stress response, regulated by the abscisic acid (ABA) pathway, is crucial to building resilience to climate change. Potted kiwifruit plants (two cultivars) were exposed to contrasting watering regimes (water logging and no water). Root and leaf tissues were sampled during the experiments to measure phytohormone levels and expression of ABA pathway genes. ABA increased significantly under drought conditions compared with the control and waterlogged plants. ABA-related gene responses were significantly greater in roots than leaves. ABA responsive genes, DREB2 and WRKY40, showed the greatest upregulation in roots with flooding, and the ABA biosynthesis gene, NCED3, with drought. Two ABA-catabolic genes, CYP707A i and ii were able to differentiate the water stress responses, with upregulation in flooding and downregulation in drought. This study has identified molecular markers and shown that water stress extremes induced strong phytohormone/ABA gene responses in the roots, which are the key site of water stress perception, supporting the theory kiwifruit plants regulate ABA to combat water stress.

Lipid-Based Natural Food Extracts for Effective Control of Botrytis Bunch Rot and Powdery Mildew on Field-Grown Winegrapes in New Zealand.

Synthetic controls of crop pathogens are increasingly associated with harm to the environment and human health, and pathogen resistance. Pesticide residues in crops can also act as non-tariff trade barriers. There is therefore a strong imperative to develop biologically based and natural product (NP) biofungicides as more sustainable alternatives for crop pathogen control. We demonstrate the field efficacy, over multiple seasons, of NP biofungicides, NP1 (based on anhydrous milk fat) and NP2 (based on soybean oil), on two major diseases of winegrapes-Botrytis bunch rot (Botrytis) and powdery mildew (PM). The NPs were integrated into a season-long integrated disease management programme that has produced chemical-residue-free wines. Efficacies for Botrytis control on three different varieties were: 63-97% on Chardonnay, 0-96% for Sauvignon Blanc and 46-58% on Riesling; with 65-98% PM control on Chardonnay and Riesling. NP2 exhibited the significant control of Botrytis latent infections, making it a viable alternative to mid-season synthetic fungicides. Disease control was significantly better than the untreated control and usually as efficacious as the synthetic fungicide treatment(s). Yields and wine quality in NP-treated crops were normally equivalent to those in the synthetic fungicide treatments. The results indicate that NP-mediated disease control of Botrytis and powdery mildew can be obtained in the vineyard, without synthetic fungicide input.

Defence Responses Associated with Elicitor-Induced, Cultivar-Associated Resistance to Latania Scale in Kiwifruit.

Latania scale insect is a pest of global significance affecting kiwifruit. The sessile insect (life stage: settled crawler-mature adult) is covered with a waxy cap that protects it from topical pesticides, so increasingly, a selection of resistant cultivars and application of elicitors are being used in pest control. Thus far, the application of a salicylic acid (SA) phytohormone pathway elicitor, acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM), has been shown to reduce insect development (as indicated by cap size) on one kiwifruit cultivar ('Hayward'). To investigate how cultivar-associated resistance is affected by the ability to respond to different elicitors, we measured phytohormones (by LCMS) and gene expression (by qPCR and NanoString) on latania scale-tolerant 'Hort16A' and susceptible 'Hayward' kiwifruit over two seasons. Potted plants in the presence/absence of settled latania scales were treated with ASM (0.2 g/L) or methyl jasmonate (MeJA, 0.05% v/v), representing elicitors of the SA and JA signalling pathways, respectively. 'Hort16A' cultivar resistance to latania scale was associated with elevated expression of SA and SA-related defence genes (PR1 and two PR2 family genes) in the ASM treatment. MeJA treatments did not significantly affect insect development in 'Hayward' (latania scale did not survive on 'Hort16A') and did not correlate with phytohormone and gene expression measurements in either cultivar. 'Hayward' had greater concentrations than 'Hort16A' of inert storage forms of both SA and JA across all treatments. This information contributes to the selection of tolerant cultivars and the effective use of elicitors for control of latania scale in kiwifruit.

Corrigendum: Phytohormone and Putative Defense Gene Expression Differentiates the Response of 'Hayward' Kiwifruit to Psa and Pfm Infections.

[This corrects the article on p. 1366 in vol. 8, PMID: 28824694.].

Phytohormone and Putative Defense Gene Expression Differentiates the Response of 'Hayward' Kiwifruit to Psa and Pfm Infections.

Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) and Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidifoliorum (Pfm) are closely related pathovars infecting kiwifruit, but Psa is considered one of the most important global pathogens, whereas Pfm is not. In this study of Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward' responses to the two pathovars, the objective was to test whether differences in plant defense responses mounted against the two pathovars correlated with the contrasting severity of the symptoms caused by them. Results showed that Psa infections were always more severe than Pfm infections, and were associated with highly localized, differential expression of phytohormones and putative defense gene transcripts in stem tissue closest to the inoculation site. Phytohormone concentrations of jasmonic acid (JA), jasmonate isoleucine (JA-Ile), salicylic acid (SA) and abscisic acid were always greater in stem tissue than in leaves, and leaf phytohormones were not affected by pathogen inoculation. Pfm inoculation induced a threefold increase in SA in stems relative to Psa inoculation, and a smaller 1.6-fold induction of JA. Transcript expression showed no effect of inoculation in leaves, but Pfm inoculation resulted in the greatest elevation of the SA marker genes, PR1 and glucan endo-1,3-beta-glucosidase (ß-1,3-glucosidase) (32- and 25-fold increases, respectively) in stem tissue surrounding the inoculation site. Pfm inoculation also produced a stronger response than Psa inoculation in localized stem tissue for the SA marker gene PR6, jasmonoyl-isoleucine-12-hydrolase (JIH1), which acts as a negative marker of the JA pathway, and APETALA2/Ethylene response factor 2 transcription factor (AP2 ERF2), which is involved in JA/SA crosstalk. WRKY40 transcription factor (a SA marker) was induced equally in stems by wounding (mock inoculation) and pathovar inoculation. Taken together, these results suggest that the host appears to mount a stronger, localized, SA-based defense response to Pfm than Psa.

Microarray analysis of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis) bark following challenge by the sucking insect Hemiberlesia lataniae (Hemiptera: Diaspididae).

Both commercial and experimental genotypes of kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) exhibit large differences in response to insect pests. An understanding of the vine's physiological response to insect feeding and its genetic basis will be important in assisting the development of varieties with acceptable levels of pest resistance. This experiment describes transcriptome changes observed in the bark of kiwifruit 2 and 7 days after the commencement of feeding by the armored scale insect pest, Hemiberlesia lataniae. Using a cDNA microarray consisting of 17,512 unigenes, we measured transcriptome changes and analyzed these into functional ontology categories using MapMan. Results are available in the GEO database GSE73922 and are described fully in Ref. Hill et al. (2015) [1]. After 7 days, transcripts associated with photosynthesis were down-regulated and secondary metabolism was up-regulated. Differential expression of transcripts associated with stress response was consistent with a defense response involving both effector and herbivore-triggered immunities, with predominant involvement of the salicylic acid phytohormonal pathway. This hypothesis was supported by the results of two laboratory experiments. The methods described here could be further adapted and applied to the study of plant responses to a wide range of sessile sucking pests.

Transcriptome Analysis of Kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis) Bark in Response to Armoured Scale Insect (Hemiberlesia lataniae) Feeding.

The kiwifruit cultivar Actinidia chinensis 'Hort16A' is resistant to the polyphagous armoured scale insect pest Hemiberlesia lataniae (Hemiptera: Diaspididae). A cDNA microarray consisting of 17,512 unigenes selected from over 132,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) was used to measure the transcriptomic profile of the A. chinensis 'Hort16A' canes in response to a controlled infestation of H. lataniae. After 2 days, 272 transcripts were differentially expressed. After 7 days, 5,284 (30%) transcripts were differentially expressed. The transcripts were grouped into 22 major functional categories using MapMan software. After 7 days, transcripts associated with photosynthesis (photosystem II) were significantly down-regulated, while those associated with secondary metabolism were significantly up-regulated. A total of 643 transcripts associated with response to stress were differentially expressed. This included biotic stress-related transcripts orthologous with pathogenesis related proteins, the phenylpropanoid pathway, NBS-LRR (R) genes, and receptor-like kinase-leucine rich repeat signalling proteins. While transcriptional studies are not conclusive in their own right, results were suggestive of a defence response involving both ETI and PTI, with predominance of the SA signalling pathway. Exogenous application of an SA-mimic decreased H. lataniae growth on A. chinensis 'Hort16A' plants in two laboratory experiments.