Expression of from in Confers Resistance to Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens.

During plant interaction with beneficial microorganisms, fungi secrete a battery of elicitors that trigger plant defenses against pathogenic microorganisms. Among the elicitor molecules secreted by Trichoderma are cerato-platanin proteins, such as EPL1, from . In this study, plants that express the gene were challenged with phytopathogens to evaluate whether expression of EPL1 confers increased resistance to the bacterial pathogen and the necrotrophic fungus . Infection assays showed that , , expressing lines were more resistant to both pathogens in comparison to WT plants. After infection, there were reduced disease symptoms (e.g., small chlorotic spots) and low bacterial titers in the three expression lines. Similarly; expression lines were more resistant to infection, showing smaller lesion size in comparison to WT. Interestingly, an increase in ROS levels was detected in expression lines when compared to WT. A higher expression of SA- and JA-response genes occurred in the lines, which could explain the resistance of these EPL1 expression lines to both pathogens. We propose that EPL1 is an excellent elicitor, which can be used to generate crops with improved resistance to broad-spectrum diseases.