AUTHOR=Zhang Huijuan , Yin Longfei , Song Fengming , Jiang Ming 

TITLE=SKIP Silencing Decreased Disease Resistance Against Botrytis cinerea and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 in Tomato

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.593267

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2020.593267

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>SKIP, a component of the spliceosome, is involved in numerous signaling pathways. However, there is no direct genetic evidence supporting the function of SKIP in defense responses. In this paper, two <italic>SKIPs</italic>, namely, <italic>SlSKIP1a</italic> and <italic>SlSKIP1b</italic>, were analyzed in tomato. qRT-PCR analysis showed that the <italic>SlSKIP1b</italic> expression was triggered via <italic>Pseudomonas syringae</italic> pv. <italic>tomato</italic> (<italic>Pst</italic>) DC3000 and <italic>Botrytis cinerea</italic> (<italic>B. cinerea</italic>), together with the defense-associated signals. In addition, the functions of <italic>SlSKIP1a</italic> and <italic>SlSKIP1b</italic> in disease resistance were analyzed in tomato through the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technique. VIGS-mediated <italic>SlSKIP1b</italic> silencing led to increased accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), along with the decreased expression of defense-related genes (DRGs) after pathogen infection, suggesting that it reduced <italic>B. cinerea</italic> and <italic>Pst</italic> DC3000 resistance. There was no significant difference in <italic>B. cinerea</italic> and <italic>Pst</italic> DC3000 resistance in TRV-<italic>SlSKIP1a</italic>-infiltrated plants compared with the TRV-<italic>GUS</italic>-silencing counterparts. As suggested by the above findings, <italic>SlSKIP1b</italic> plays a vital role in disease resistance against pathogens possibly by regulating the accumulation of ROS as well as the expression of DRGs.</p>