The Pathogenesis-Related Maize Seed () Gene Plays a Role in Resistance to Infection and Aflatoxin Contamination.

is an opportunistic plant pathogen that colonizes and produces the toxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolites, aflatoxins, in oil-rich crops such as maize ( L.). Pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins serve as an important defense mechanism against invading pathogens by conferring systemic acquired resistance in plants. Among these, production of the PR maize seed protein, (AC205274.3_FG001), has been speculated to be involved in resistance to infection by and other pathogens. To better understand the relative contribution of to resistance and aflatoxin production, a seed-specific RNA interference (RNAi)-based gene silencing approach was used to develop transgenic maize lines expressing hairpin RNAs to target . Downregulation of in transgenic kernels resulted in a ∼250-350% increase in infection accompanied by a ∼4.5-7.5-fold higher accumulation of aflatoxins than control plants. Gene co-expression network analysis of RNA-seq data during the -maize interaction identified as a network hub possibly responsible for regulating several downstream candidate genes associated with disease resistance and other biochemical functions. Expression analysis of these candidate genes in the -RNAi lines demonstrated downregulation (vs. control) of a majority of these -regulated genes during infection. These results are consistent with a key role of in resistance to infection and aflatoxin accumulation in maize kernels.