Targeted Mutagenesis of the Female-Suppressor SyGI Gene in Tetraploid Kiwifruit by CRISPR/CAS9.

Kiwifruit belong to the genus Actinidia with 54 species apparently all functionally dioecious. The sex-determinants of the type XX/XY, with male heterogametic, operate independently of the ploidy level. Recently, the SyGI protein has been described as the suppressor of female development. In the present study, we exploited the CRISPR/Cas9 technology by targeting two different sites in the SyGI gene in order to induce a stable gene knock-out in two tetraploid male accessions of Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis. The two genotypes showed a regenerative efficiency of 58% and 73%, respectively. Despite not yet being able to verify the phenotypic effects on the flower structure, due to the long time required by tissue-cultured kiwifruit plants to flower, we obtained two regenerated lines showing near fixation of a unique modification in their genome, resulting in both cases in the onset of a premature stop codon, which induces the putative gene knock-out. Evaluation of gRNA1 locus for both regenerated plantlets resulted in co-amplification of a minor variant differing from the target region for a single nucleotide. A genomic duplication of the region in proximity of the Y genomic region could be postulated.

Agroinoculation of Grapevine Pinot Gris Virus in tobacco and grapevine provides insights on viral pathogenesis.

The Grapevine Pinot Gris disease (GPG-d) is a novel disease characterized by symptoms such as leaf mottling and deformation, which has been recently reported in grapevines, and mostly in Pinot gris. Plants show obvious symptoms at the beginning of the growing season, while during summer symptom recovery frequently occurs, manifesting as symptomless leaves. A new Trichovirus, named Grapevine Pinot gris virus (GPGV), which belongs to the family Betaflexiviridae was found in association with infected plants. The detection of the virus in asymptomatic grapevines raised doubts about disease aetiology. Therefore, the primary target of this work was to set up a reliable system for the study of the disease in controlled conditions, avoiding interfering factor(s) that could affect symptom development. To this end, two clones of the virus, pRI::GPGV-vir and pRI::GPGV-lat, were generated from total RNA collected from one symptomatic and one asymptomatic Pinot gris grapevine, respectively. The clones, which encompassed the entire genome of the virus, were used in Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation of Vitis vinifera and Nicotiana benthamiana plants. All inoculated plants developed symptoms regardless of their inoculum source, demonstrating a correlation between the presence of GPGV and symptomatic manifestations. Four months post inoculum, the grapevines inoculated with the pRI::GPGV-lat clone developed asymptomatic leaves that were still positive to GPGV detection. Three to four weeks later (i.e. ca. 5 months post inoculum), the same phenomenon was observed in the grapevines inoculated with pRI::GPGV-vir. This observation perfectly matches symptom progression in infected field-grown grapevines, suggesting a possible role for plant antiviral mechanisms, such as RNA silencing, in the recovery process.

A new proteinaceous pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) identified in Ascomycete fungi induces cell death in Solanaceae.

Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are detected by plant pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which gives rise to PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). We characterized a novel fungal PAMP, Cell Death Inducing 1 (RcCDI1), identified in the Rhynchosporium commune transcriptome sampled at an early stage of barley (Hordeum vulgare) infection. The ability of RcCDI1 and its homologues from different fungal species to induce cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana was tested following agroinfiltration or infiltration of recombinant proteins produced by Pichia pastoris. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) and transient expression of Phytophthora infestans effectors PiAVR3a and PexRD2 were used to assess the involvement of known components of PTI in N. benthamiana responses to RcCDI1. RcCDI1 was highly upregulated early during barley colonization with R. commune. RcCDI1 and its homologues from different fungal species, including Zymoseptoria tritici, Magnaporthe oryzae and Neurospora crassa, exhibited PAMP activity, inducing cell death in Solanaceae but not in other families of dicots or monocots. RcCDI1-triggered cell death was shown to require N. benthamiana Brassinosteroid insensitive 1-Associated Kinase 1 (NbBAK1), N. benthamiana suppressor of BIR1-1 (NbSOBIR1) and N. benthamiana SGT1 (NbSGT1), but was not suppressed by PiAVR3a or PexRD2. We report the identification of a novel Ascomycete PAMP, RcCDI1, recognized by Solanaceae but not by monocots, which activates cell death through a pathway that is distinct from that triggered by the oomycete PAMP INF1.