Manipulation of the Xanthophyll Cycle Increases Plant Susceptibility to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.

The xanthophyll cycle is involved in dissipating excess light energy to protect the photosynthetic apparatus in a process commonly assessed from non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) of chlorophyll fluorescence. Here, it is shown that the xanthophyll cycle is modulated by the necrotrophic pathogen Scler...

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Main Authors: Jun Zhou, Lizhang Zeng, Jian Liu, Da Xing
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-05-01
Series:PLoS Pathogens
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4439079?pdf=render
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author Jun Zhou
Lizhang Zeng
Jian Liu
Da Xing
author_facet Jun Zhou
Lizhang Zeng
Jian Liu
Da Xing
author_sort Jun Zhou
collection DOAJ
description The xanthophyll cycle is involved in dissipating excess light energy to protect the photosynthetic apparatus in a process commonly assessed from non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) of chlorophyll fluorescence. Here, it is shown that the xanthophyll cycle is modulated by the necrotrophic pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum at the early stage of infection. Incubation of Sclerotinia led to a localized increase in NPQ even at low light intensity. Further studies showed that this abnormal change in NPQ was closely correlated with a decreased pH caused by Sclerotinia-secreted oxalate, which might decrease the ATP synthase activity and lead to a deepening of thylakoid lumen acidification under continuous illumination. Furthermore, suppression (with dithiothreitol) or a defect (in the npq1-2 mutant) of violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) abolished the Sclerotinia-induced NPQ increase. HPLC analysis showed that the Sclerotinia-inoculated tissue accumulated substantial quantities of zeaxanthin at the expense of violaxanthin, with a corresponding decrease in neoxanthin content. Immunoassays revealed that the decrease in these xanthophyll precursors reduced de novo abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and apparently weakened tissue defense responses, including ROS induction and callose deposition, resulting in enhanced plant susceptibility to Sclerotinia. We thus propose that Sclerotinia antagonizes ABA biosynthesis to suppress host defense by manipulating the xanthophyll cycle in early pathogenesis. These findings provide a model of how photoprotective metabolites integrate into the defense responses, and expand the current knowledge of early plant-Sclerotinia interactions at infection sites.
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spelling doaj.art-07ba175981ce49ab891289d39f7a43512022-12-21T18:19:10ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Pathogens1553-73661553-73742015-05-01115e100487810.1371/journal.ppat.1004878Manipulation of the Xanthophyll Cycle Increases Plant Susceptibility to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.Jun ZhouLizhang ZengJian LiuDa XingThe xanthophyll cycle is involved in dissipating excess light energy to protect the photosynthetic apparatus in a process commonly assessed from non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) of chlorophyll fluorescence. Here, it is shown that the xanthophyll cycle is modulated by the necrotrophic pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum at the early stage of infection. Incubation of Sclerotinia led to a localized increase in NPQ even at low light intensity. Further studies showed that this abnormal change in NPQ was closely correlated with a decreased pH caused by Sclerotinia-secreted oxalate, which might decrease the ATP synthase activity and lead to a deepening of thylakoid lumen acidification under continuous illumination. Furthermore, suppression (with dithiothreitol) or a defect (in the npq1-2 mutant) of violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) abolished the Sclerotinia-induced NPQ increase. HPLC analysis showed that the Sclerotinia-inoculated tissue accumulated substantial quantities of zeaxanthin at the expense of violaxanthin, with a corresponding decrease in neoxanthin content. Immunoassays revealed that the decrease in these xanthophyll precursors reduced de novo abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and apparently weakened tissue defense responses, including ROS induction and callose deposition, resulting in enhanced plant susceptibility to Sclerotinia. We thus propose that Sclerotinia antagonizes ABA biosynthesis to suppress host defense by manipulating the xanthophyll cycle in early pathogenesis. These findings provide a model of how photoprotective metabolites integrate into the defense responses, and expand the current knowledge of early plant-Sclerotinia interactions at infection sites.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4439079?pdf=render
spellingShingle Jun Zhou
Lizhang Zeng
Jian Liu
Da Xing
Manipulation of the Xanthophyll Cycle Increases Plant Susceptibility to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
PLoS Pathogens
title Manipulation of the Xanthophyll Cycle Increases Plant Susceptibility to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
title_full Manipulation of the Xanthophyll Cycle Increases Plant Susceptibility to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
title_fullStr Manipulation of the Xanthophyll Cycle Increases Plant Susceptibility to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
title_full_unstemmed Manipulation of the Xanthophyll Cycle Increases Plant Susceptibility to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
title_short Manipulation of the Xanthophyll Cycle Increases Plant Susceptibility to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
title_sort manipulation of the xanthophyll cycle increases plant susceptibility to sclerotinia sclerotiorum
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4439079?pdf=render
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AT jianliu manipulationofthexanthophyllcycleincreasesplantsusceptibilitytosclerotiniasclerotiorum
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