AUTHOR=Yang Yuwen , Chen Tianzi , Ling Xitie , Ma Zhengqiang 

TITLE=Gbvdr6, a Gene Encoding a Receptor-Like Protein of Cotton (Gossypium barbadense), Confers Resistance to Verticillium Wilt in Arabidopsis and Upland Cotton

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.02272

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.02272

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Verticillium wilt is a soil-borne disease that can cause devastating losses in cotton production. Because there is no effective chemical means to combat the disease, the only effective way to control Verticillium wilt is through genetic improvement. Therefore, the identification of additional disease-resistance genes will benefit efforts toward the genetic improvement of cotton resistance to Verticillium wilt. Based on screening of a BAC library with a partial <italic>Ve</italic> homologous fragment and expression analysis, a <italic>V. dahliae</italic>-induced gene, <italic>Gbvdr6</italic>, was isolated and cloned from the Verticillium wilt-resistant cotton <italic>G. barbadense</italic> cultivar Hai7124. The gene was located in the gene cluster containing <italic>Gbve1</italic> and <italic>Gbvdr5</italic> and adjacent to the Verticillium wilt-resistance QTL hotspot. <italic>Gbvdr6</italic> was induced by <italic>Verticillium dahliae</italic> Kleb and by the plant hormones salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and ethephon (ETH) but not by abscisic acid (ABA). Gbvdr6 was localized to the plasma membrane. Overexpression of <italic>Gbvdr6</italic> in <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> and cotton enhanced resistance to <italic>V. dahliae</italic>. Moreover, the JA/ET signaling pathway-related genes <italic>PR3, PDF 1.2, ERF1</italic> and the SA-related genes <italic>PR1</italic> and <italic>PR2</italic> were constitutively expressed in transgenic plants. <italic>Gbvdr6</italic>-overexpressing <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> was less sensitive than the wild-type plant to MeJA. Furthermore, the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and callose was triggered at early time points after <italic>V. dahliae</italic> infection. These results suggest that <italic>Gbvdr6</italic> confers resistance to <italic>V. dahliae</italic> through regulation of the JA/ET and SA signaling pathways.</p>