Wang Yi, Yang Tuo, Wang Di, Gou Rongxin, Jiang Yin, Zeng Zhen, Zhang Guojun, Zhang Xiuhai, Wei Zunzheng
Institute of Grassland, Flowers and Ecology, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, 100097, China.
Beijing Key Laboratory of Development and Quality Control of Ornamental Crops, Department of Ornamental Horticulture, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
Plant J. 2025 Aug;123(3):e70392. doi: 10.1111/tpj.70392.
Soft rot is a major disease affecting the production of colored calla lily, significantly compromising its ornamental, commercial, and market value. In this study, we identified potential long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in colored calla lily (Zantedeschia elliottiana) leaves infected with soft rot via transcriptome sequencing. Among them, long non-coding RNA 88490 (LNC88940) was identified as a differentially expressed lncRNA that was significantly upregulated following soft rot infection. The results revealed that LNC88940 functions as an endogenous target mimic (eTM) for miR528, reducing the expression level of miR528 and thereby indirectly promoting superoxide dismutase (SOD) expression. Experiments involving transient overexpression and silencing of LNC88940 and SOD revealed that overexpression significantly reduced lesion areas and enhanced resistance to soft rot, whereas silencing had the opposite effect. Additionally, the increase in salicylic acid (SA) levels in leaves following soft rot infection was closely associated with the upregulation of LNC88940 expression. Further investigation revealed that TGACG-binding factor 2 (TGA2) can directly bind to the promoter of LNC88940, thereby increasing its expression. This study reveals the crucial role of the SA-mediated TGA2-LNC88940-miR528-SOD module in regulating the resistance of colored calla lily to soft rot, providing new theoretical insights into the lncRNA-mediated regulation of disease resistance in ornamental horticultural crop species.
软腐病是影响彩色马蹄莲生产的主要病害，严重损害其观赏价值、商业价值和市场价值。在本研究中，我们通过转录组测序鉴定了感染软腐病的彩色马蹄莲（马蹄莲）叶片中潜在的长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）。其中，长链非编码RNA 88490（LNC88940）被鉴定为差异表达的lncRNA，在软腐病感染后显著上调。结果表明，LNC88940作为miR528的内源性靶标模拟物（eTM），降低了miR528的表达水平，从而间接促进超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）的表达。对LNC88940和SOD进行瞬时过表达和沉默的实验表明，过表达显著减少了病斑面积并增强了对软腐病的抗性，而沉默则产生相反的效果。此外，软腐病感染后叶片中水杨酸（SA）水平的升高与LNC88940表达的上调密切相关。进一步研究发现，TGACG结合因子2（TGA2）可以直接结合到LNC88940的启动子上，从而增加其表达。本研究揭示了SA介导的TGA2-LNC88940-miR528-SOD模块在调节彩色马蹄莲对软腐病抗性中的关键作用，为观赏园艺作物中lncRNA介导的抗病性调控提供了新的理论见解。
