AUTHOR=Zhang Bo , Feng Hui , Ge Wenjie , Wang Xinlei , Zhang Jing , Ji Ruiqin 

TITLE=BrUFO positively regulates the infection of Chinese cabbage by Plasmodiophora brassicae

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1128515

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1128515

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Chinese cabbage is one of the most important vegetable crops in China. However, the clubroot disease caused by the infection of <italic>Plasmodiophora brassicae (P. brassicae)</italic> has seriously affected the yield and quality of Chinese cabbage. In our previous study, <italic>BrUFO</italic> gene was found to be significantly up-regulated in diseased roots of Chinese cabbage after inoculation with <italic>P. brassicae. UFO (UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS)</italic> have the properties of substrate recognition during ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. A variety of plant can activate immunity response through the ubiquitination pathway. Therefore, it is very important to study the function of <italic>UFO</italic> in response to <italic>P. brassicae</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>In this study, The expression pattern of <italic>BrUFO</italic> Gene was measured by qRT-PCR and <italic>In situ</italic> Hybridization (ISH). The expression location of <italic>BrUFO</italic> in cells was determined by subcellular localization. The function of <italic>BrUFO</italic> was verified by Virus-induced Gene Silencing (VIGS). proteins interacting with BrUFO protein were screened by yeast two-hybrid.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qRT-PCR) and in situ hybridization analysis showed that expression of <italic>BrUFO</italic> gene in the resistant plants was lower than that in susceptible plants. Subcellular localization analysis showed that <italic>BrUFO</italic> gene was expressed in the nucleus. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) analysis showed that silencing of <italic>BrUFO</italic> gene reduced the incidence of clubroot disease. Six proteins interacting with BrUFO protein were screened by Y<sub>2</sub>H assay. Two of them (Bra038955, a B-cell receptor-associated 31-like protein and Bra021273, a GDSL-motif esterase/acyltransferase/lipase Enzyme) were confirmed to strongly interact with  BrUFO protein.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p><italic>BrUFO</italic> gene should be a key gene of chinese cabbage against the infection of <italic>P. brassicae. BrUFO</italic> gene silencing improves the resistance of plants to clubroot disease. BrUFO protein may interact with CUS2 to induce ubiquitination in PRR-mediated PTI reaction through GDSL lipases, so as to achieve the effect of Chinese cabbage against the infection of <italic>P. brassicae.</italic></p></sec>