Stevens Katie, Roberts Michael R, Jeynes-Cupper Katie, Majeed Lamya, Pastor Victoria, Catoni Marco, Luna Estrella
School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK.
New Phytol. 2025 Feb;245(3):1145-1157. doi: 10.1111/nph.20288. Epub 2024 Nov 19.
Tomato is a major global crop. However, its production is limited by Botrytis cinerea. Due to the toxicity of postharvest pesticide application, alternative control methods such as priming are being investigated. Plants were treated with β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) at two developmental stages and resistance against B. cinerea was tested in fruit tissue and in progenies. DNA methylation and RNA sequencing were conducted to characterise the (epi)genetic changes associated with long-lasting resistance. Grafting experiments were done to assess the systemic nature of this signal, which was further characterised by small RNA (sRNA) sequencing of scions. Only BABA-treated seedlings displayed induced resistance (IR). DNA methylation analysis revealed seedling-specific changes, which occurred in the context of lower basal methylation. BABA-IR was found to be transmissible from primed rootstock to grafted unprimed scions. In these scions, we identified a subset of mobile 24 nt sRNAs associated with genes showing primed expression during infection in fruit. Our results demonstrate the functional association of a systemic signal with long-lasting IR and priming. Through integrated omics approaches, we have identified markers of long-lasting priming in tomato fruit which could also serve as targets for durable resistance in other crops.
番茄是全球主要作物。然而，其产量受到灰葡萄孢的限制。由于采后施用农药存在毒性，人们正在研究诸如引发处理等替代控制方法。在两个发育阶段用β-氨基丁酸（BABA）处理植株，并在果实组织和后代中测试对灰葡萄孢的抗性。进行DNA甲基化和RNA测序以表征与持久抗性相关的（表观）遗传变化。进行嫁接实验以评估该信号的系统性，通过对接穗进行小RNA（sRNA）测序进一步表征该信号。只有经BABA处理的幼苗表现出诱导抗性（IR）。DNA甲基化分析揭示了在较低基础甲基化背景下发生的幼苗特异性变化。发现BABA诱导的抗性可从引发的砧木传递到嫁接的未引发接穗。在这些接穗中，我们鉴定出了一组与果实感染期间显示引发表达的基因相关的移动24nt sRNA。我们的结果证明了系统性信号与持久诱导抗性和引发处理之间的功能关联。通过综合组学方法，我们在番茄果实中鉴定出了持久引发的标记，这些标记也可作为其他作物持久抗性的靶点。
