CRISPR/Cas9-mediated phospholipase C 2 knock-out tomato plants are more resistant to Botrytis cinerea

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Enzo A. Perk
  • Andrés Arruebarrena Di Palma
  • Silvana Colman
  • Oriana Mariani
  • Ignacio Cerrudo
  • d'Ambrosio, Juan Martin
  • Luciana Robuschi
  • Marina A. Pombo
  • Hernán G. Rosli
  • Fernando Villareal
  • Ana M. Laxalt

Main conclusion: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Phospholipase C2 knock-out tomato plants are more resistant to Botrytis cinerea than wild-type plants, with less ROS and an increase and reduction of (JA) and (SA)-response marker genes, respectively. Abstract: Genome-editing technologies allow non-transgenic site-specific mutagenesis of crops, offering a viable alternative to traditional breeding methods. In this study we used CRISPR/Cas9 to inactivate the tomato Phospholipase C2 gene (SlPLC2). Plant PLC activation is one of the earliest responses triggered by different pathogens regulating plant responses that, depending on the plant–pathogen interaction, result in plant resistance or susceptibility. The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) PLC gene family has six members, named from SlPLC1 to SlPLC6. We previously showed that SlPLC2 transcript levels increased upon xylanase infiltration (fungal elicitor) and that SlPLC2 participates in plant susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea. An efficient strategy to control diseases caused by pathogens is to disable susceptibility genes that facilitate infection. We obtained tomato SlPLC2-knock-out lines with decreased ROS production upon B. cinerea challenge. Since this fungus requires ROS-induced cell death to proliferate, SlPLC2-knock-out plants showed an enhanced resistance with smaller necrotic areas and reduced pathogen proliferation. Thus, we obtained SlPLC2 loss-of-function tomato lines more resistant to B. cinerea by means of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology.

Original languageEnglish
Article number117
JournalPlanta
Volume257
Issue number6
Number of pages6
ISSN0032-0935
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

    Research areas

  • Botrytis cinerea, CRISPR/Cas9, Lipid signaling, Phospholipase C, Plant defense, Plant resistance, Reactive oxygen species, Solanum lycopersicum, Transgene-free edited plants

ID: 347977520