Increased growth in sunflower correlates with reduced defences and altered gene expression in response to biotic and abiotic stress.

Cultivated plants have been selected by humans for increased yield in a relatively benign environment, where nutrient and water resources are often supplemented, and biotic enemy loads are kept artificially low. Agricultural weeds have adapted to this same benign environment as crops and often have high growth and reproductive rates, even though they have not been specifically selected for yield. Considering the competing demands for resources in any plant, a key question is whether adaptation to agricultural environments has been accompanied by life history trade-offs, in which resistance to (largely absent) stress has been lost in favour of growth and reproduction. The experiments reported here were designed to test for growth-defence trade-offs in agricultural weeds, crops and native varieties of common sunflower (Helianthus annuus L., Asteraceae) by comparing their performance in the presence or absence of abiotic (drought and crowding) or biotic (simulated herbivory, insect herbivory and fungal) stress. We found that growth, as well as viability of crops and weeds, was reduced by abiotic drought stress. The weakened defence in the agricultural genotypes was further evident as increased susceptibility to fungal infection and higher level of insect palatability. To uncover molecular mechanisms underlying these trade-offs, we monitored gene expression kinetics in drought-stressed plants. By correlating phenotypic observations with molecular analyses, we report the identification of several genes, including a protein phosphatase 2C and the HD-Zip transcription factor Athb-8, whose expression is associated with the observed phenotypic variation in common sunflower.

Bypassing kinase activity of the tomato Pto resistance protein with small molecule ligands.

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) protein kinase Pto confers resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato bacteria expressing the AvrPto and AvrPtoB effector proteins. Pto specifically recognizes both effectors by direct physical interactions triggering activation of immune responses. Here, we used a chemical-genetic approach to sensitize Pto to analogs of PP1, an ATP-competitive small molecule inhibitor. By using PP1 analogs in combination with the sensitized Pto (Pto(as)), we examined the role of Pto kinase activity in effector recognition and signal transduction. Strikingly, while PP1 analogs efficiently inhibited kinase activity of Pto(as) in vitro, they enhanced interactions of Pto(as) with AvrPto and AvrPtoB in a yeast two-hybrid system. In addition, in the presence of PP1 analogs, Pto(as) bypassed mutations either at an autophosphorylation site critical for the Pto-AvrPto interaction or at catalytically essential residues and interacted with both effectors. Moreover, in the presence of the PP1 analog 3MB-PP1, a kinase-deficient form of Pto(as) triggered an AvrPto-dependent hypersensitive response in planta. These findings suggest that, rather than phosphorylation per se, a conformational change likely triggered by autophosphorylation in Pto and mimicked by ligand binding in Pto(as) is a prerequisite for recognition of bacterial effectors. Following recognition, kinase activity appears to be dispensable for Pto signaling in planta. The chemical-genetic strategy applied here to develop specific small molecule inhibitors of Pto represents an invaluable tool for the study of biological functions of other plant protein kinases in vivo.

Tomato transcriptional changes in response to Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis reveal a role for ethylene in disease development.

Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmm) is a gram-positive actinomycete, causing bacterial wilt and canker disease in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Host responses to gram-positive bacteria and molecular mechanisms associated with the development of disease symptoms caused by Cmm in tomato are largely unexplored. To investigate plant responses activated during this compatible interaction, we used microarray analysis to monitor changes in host gene expression during disease development. This analysis was performed at 4 d postinoculation, when bacteria were actively multiplying and no wilt symptoms were yet visible; and at 8 d postinoculation, when bacterial growth approached saturation and typical wilt symptoms were observed. Of the 9,254 tomato genes represented on the array, 122 were differentially expressed in Cmm-infected plants, compared with mock-inoculated plants. Functional classification of Cmm-responsive genes revealed that Cmm activated typical basal defense responses in the host, including induction of defense-related genes, production and scavenging of free oxygen radicals, enhanced protein turnover, and hormone synthesis. Cmm infection also induced a subset of host genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis and response. After inoculation with Cmm, Never ripe (Nr) mutant plants, impaired in ethylene perception, and transgenic plants with reduced ethylene synthesis showed significant delay in the appearance of wilt symptoms, compared with wild-type plants. The retarded wilting in Nr plants was a specific effect of ethylene insensitivity, and was not due to altered expression of defense-related genes, reduced bacterial populations, or decreased ethylene synthesis. Taken together, our results indicate that host-derived ethylene plays an important role in regulation of the tomato susceptible response to Cmm.

A novel link between tomato GRAS genes, plant disease resistance and mechanical stress response.

SUMMARY Members of the GRAS family of transcriptional regulators have been implicated in the control of plant growth and development, and in the interaction of plants with symbiotic bacteria. Here we examine the complexity of the GRAS gene family in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and investigate its role in disease resistance and mechanical stress. A large number of tomato ESTs corresponding to GRAS transcripts were retrieved from the public database and assembled in 17 contigs of putative genes. Expression analysis of these genes by real-time RT-PCR revealed that six SlGRAS transcripts accumulate during the onset of disease resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. Further analysis of two selected family members showed that their transcripts preferentially accumulate in tomato plants in response to different avirulent bacteria or to the fungal elicitor EIX, and their expression kinetics correlate with the appearance of the hypersensitive response. In addition, transcript levels of eight SlGRAS genes, including all the Pseudomonas-inducible family members, increased in response to mechanical stress much earlier than upon pathogen attack. Accumulation of SlGRAS transcripts following mechanical stress was in part dependent on the signalling molecule jasmonic acid. Remarkably, suppression of SlGRAS6 gene expression by virus-induced gene silencing impaired tomato resistance to P. syringae pv. tomato. These results support a function for GRAS transcriptional regulators in the plant response to biotic and abiotic stress.

LeMPK3 is a mitogen-activated protein kinase with dual specificity induced during tomato defense and wounding responses.

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascades are readily activated during the response of plants to avirulent pathogens or to pathogen-derived elicitors. Here we show that the tomato MAP kinase LeMPK3 is specifically induced at the mRNA level during elicitation of the hypersensitive response in resistant plants infected by avirulent strains of the phytopathogenic bacteria Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, as well as upon treatment with the fungal elicitor ethylene-inducing xylanase. LeMPK3 gene expression was also induced very rapidly by mechanical stress and wounding much earlier than upon pathogen infection, but not in response to the defense-related plant hormones ethylene and jasmonic acid. Moreover, in resistant tomato plants infected by X. campestris pv. vesicatoria, transcript accumulation was followed by an increase in LeMPK3 kinase activity. Biochemical characterization of a glutathione S-transferase-LeMPK3 fusion protein revealed that the LeMPK3 MAP kinase autophosphorylates in vitro mainly on tyrosine and less so on threonine and serine, whereas it phosphorylates myelin basic protein on serine and threonine. In vitro phosphorylation of a poly-(Glu-Tyr) copolymer by LeMPK3 demonstrated its capability to phosphorylate tyrosine residues on substrates as well. By mutagenesis and phosphoamino acid analysis, Tyr-201 in the kinase activation domain was identified as the main LeMPK3 autophosphorylation site and as critical for kinase activity. Finally, LeMPK3 autophosphorylation showed a preference for Mn(2+) cations and proceeded via an intramolecular mechanism with an estimated K(m) value for ATP of 9.5 microm. These results define LeMPK3 as a MAP kinase with dual specificity and strongly suggest that it represents a convergence point for different signaling pathways inducing the activation of defense responses in tomato.