AUTHOR=Yang Yuankun , Zhang Yi , Li Beibei , Yang Xiufen , Dong Yijie , Qiu Dewen 

TITLE=A Verticillium dahliae Pectate Lyase Induces Plant Immune Responses and Contributes to Virulence

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.01271

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2018.01271

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Verticillium dahliae</italic> is a wide-host-range fungal pathogen that causes soil-borne disease in hundreds of dicotyledonous hosts. In search of <italic>V. dahliae</italic> Vd991 cell death-inducing proteins, we identified a pectate lyase (VdPEL1) that exhibited pectin hydrolytic activity, which could induce strong cell death in several plants. Purified VdPEL1 triggered defense responses and conferred resistance to <italic>Botrytis cinerea</italic> and <italic>V. dahliae</italic> in tobacco and cotton plants. Our results demonstrated that the mutant VdPEL1<sup>rec</sup> lacking the enzymatic activity lacked functions to induce both cell death and plant resistance, implying that the enzymatic activity was necessary. In addition, <italic>VdPEL1</italic> was strongly induced in <italic>V. dahliae</italic> infected <italic>Nicotiana benthamiana</italic> and cotton roots, and <italic>VdPEL1</italic> deletion strains severely compromised the virulence of <italic>V. dahliae</italic>. Our data suggested that VdPEL1 contributed to <italic>V. dahliae</italic> virulence and induced plant defense responses. These findings provide a new insight for the function of pectate lyase in the host–pathogen interaction.</p>