Role of the tomato Phosphatidylinositol-Phospholipase C2 (SlPLC2) in defense responses induced by the phytotoxin botrydial from Botrytis cinerea

COLLADO, ISIDRO GONZÁLEZ; DI PALMA, ANDRÉS ARRUEBARRENA; GONORAZKY, GABRIELA; LAXALT, ANA MARIA

Córdoba

Congreso; XXXII Reunión Argentina de Fisiología Vegetal (RAFV) y XV Congreso Latinoamericano de Fisiología Vegetal; 2018

Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología Vegetal

Phospholipase C (PLC) is an enzyme involved in the production of the second messenger phosphatidic acid (PA), in sequential action with diacylglycerol kinase (DGK). The tomato [Solanum lycopersicum (Sl)] phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C (PI-PLC) gene family is composed of six members, named SlPLC1 to SlPLC6, differentially regulated upon biotic stress. We have shown that SlPLC2-silenced plants are less susceptible to the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea. Botrydial is a phytotoxic sesquiterpene from B. cinerea that triggers plant defense responses. We have demonstrated that botrydial induces PA production in tomato cell suspension via PLC/DGK activation, which is required for reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation triggered by botrydial. In this work we study the role of SlPLC2 in the regulation of defense responses induced by botrydial in tomato plants. Treatment of tomato leaves with botrydial triggered an increase of SlPLC2 transcripts, while no changes were observed in transcript levels of SlPLC1, SlPLC2, SlPLC4, SlPLC5 and SlPLC6. The expression of SlPLC2 was knocked-down by virus-induced gene silencing and plant defense responses were analyzed upon botrydial treatment. Preliminary results show no changes in early and late ROS production. Nevertheless, SlPLC2 silenced plants developed less necrotic lesions than control plants upon botrydial treatment. We will present data on plant defense transcript levels and callose deposition. The biological relevance of these data is discussed