2,3-Butanediol from the leachates of pine needles induces the resistance of Panax notoginseng to the leaf pathogen Alternaria panax

Compared with the use of monocultures in the field,cultivation of medicinal herbs in forests is an effective strategy to alleviate disease.Chemical interactions between herbs and trees play an important role in disease suppression in forests.We evaluated the ability of leachates from needles of Pinus armandii to induce resistance in Panax notoginseng leaves,identified the components via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS),and then deciphered the mechanism of 2,3-Butanediol as the main component in the leachates responsible for resistance induction via RNA sequencing(RNA-seq).Prespraying leachates and 2,3-Butanediol onto leaves could induce the resistance of P.notoginseng to Alternaria panax.The RNA-seq results showed that prespraying 2,3-Butanediol onto leaves with or without A.panax infection upregulated the expression of large number of genes,many of which are involved in transcription factor activity and the mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) signaling pathway.Specifically,2,3-Butanediol spraying resulted in jasmonic acid(JA)-mediated induced systemic resistance(ISR) by activating MYC2 and ERF1.Moreover,2,3-Butanediol induced systemic acquired resistance(SAR) by upregulating pattern-triggered immunity(PTI)-and effector-triggered immunity(ETI)-related genes and activated camalexin biosynthesis through activation of WRKY33.Overall,2,3-Butanediol from the leachates of pine needles could activate the resistance of P.notoginseng to leaf disease infection through ISR,SAR and camalexin biosynthesis.Thus,2,3-Butanediol is worth developing as a chemical inducer for agricultural production.

First Report of Fusarium striatum Causing Root Rot Disease of Panax notoginseng in Yunnan,China

Panax notoginseng is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant.Root rot of P.notoginseng is one of the most serious diseases affecting P.notoginseng growth and causes wilted leaves,fewer lateral roots and rotten roots.Root rot is a soil-borne disease,and mainly occurs from June to August in Yunnan Province when the temperatures are high and the air is humid.In this study,the endophytic fungal genus Fusarium isolate E-2018.1.22-#3.2 was obtained from a P.notoginseng embryo.Fusarium isolate E-2018.1.22-#3.2 was identified as Fusarium striatum based on morphological characteristics and molecular analysis.The fungus was found to have conidiophores and macroconidia,and its ITS,LSU and TEF-1αgenes shared 100%,99.2%and 99%identities with the homologous genes of Fusarium striatum,respectively.Isolate F.striatum E-2018.1.22-#3.2 can cause root rot symptoms,including black,soft roots,fewer lateral roots and leaf wilt,in 93%of the experimental P.notoginseng plants,and could be re-isolated,fulfilling Koch’s postulates.When the P.notoginseng plants were treated with the fungicide pyraclostrobin,isolate F.striatum E-2018.1.22-#3.2 was unable to cause root rot.We have therefore demonstrated that F.striatum E-2018.1.22-#3.2 is able to cause root rot disease in P.notoginseng.This is the first report of root rot disease caused by F.striatum on P.notoginseng in China.

Determination of Pathogenicity and Crude Toxin Activity of Rhizoctonia solani with Rice Tissue In Vitro

[ Objectives] As a traditional inoculation method of rice sheath blight, rice relative lesion height method needs rice grow to late tillering or heading stage and then inoculate in vivo, which is time-consuming and is difficult to control the testing conditions, so it is urgent to search a better alternative method. [ Methods] With rice relative lesion height method （ in vivo inoculation） as the control, the pathogenicity and crude toxin activity of Rhizoctonia solani were determined by rice detached leaf sheath method and rice detached leaf method, to compare the correlation of in vivo and in vitro inoculation. [Results] Rice detached leaf method and rice detached leaf sheath method had significantly positive correlation with rice relative lesion height method, and the determination results of rice detached leaf method and rice detached leaf sheath method could reflect the pathogenicity and crude toxin activity of R. solani accurately. [ Conclusions] Rice detached leaf method and rice detached leaf sheath method are easy to operate and control testing conditions, and could be used as alternative methods to determine pathogenicity and etude toxin activity of R. solani.

Colonization of endophyte Acremonium sp. D212 in Panax notoginseng and rice mediated by auxin and jasmonic acid

Endophytic fungi can be beneficial to plant growth. However, the molecular mechanisms under-lying colonization of Acremonium spp. remain unclear. In this study, a novel endophytic Acremonium strain was isolated from the buds of Panax notoginseng and named Acremonium sp. D212. The Acremonium sp. D212 could colonize the roots of P. notoginseng, enhance the resistance of P. notoginseng to root rot disease, and promote root growth and saponin bio-synthesis in P. notoginseng. Acremonium sp. D212 could secrete indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and jasmonic acid (JA), and inoculation with the fungus increased the endogenous levels of IAA and JA in P. noto-ginseng. Colonization of the Acremonium sp. D212 in the roots of the rice line Nipponbare was dependent on the concentration of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) (2–15μmol/L) and 1-naphthalenacetic acid (NAA) (10–20μmol/L). Moreover, the roots of the JA signaling-defective coi1-18 mutant were colonized by Acremonium sp. D212 to a lesser degree than those of the wild-type Nipponbare and miR393b-overexpressing lines, and the colonization was res-cued by MeJA but not by NAA. It suggests that the cross-talk between JA signaling and the auxin biosynthetic pathway plays a crucial role in the colonization of Acremonium sp. D212 in host plants.

A novel endogenous badnavirus exists in Alhagi sparsifolia

We report the recovery of a 7068-nt viral sequence from the ＂viral fossils＂ embedded in the genome of Alhagi sparsifolia, a typical desert plant. Although the full viral genome remains to be completed, the putative genome structure, the deduced amino acids and phylogenetic analysis unambiguously demonstrate that this viral sequence represents a novel species of the genus Badnavirus. The putative virus is tentatively termed Alhagi bacilliform virus （ABV）. Southern blotting and inverse polymerase chain reaction （PCR） data indicate that the ABV-related sequence is integrated into the A. sparsifolia genome, and probably does not give rise to functional episomal virus. Molecular evidence that the ABV sequence exists widely in A. sparsifolia is also presented. To our knowledge, this is the first endogenous badnavirus identified from plants in the Gobi desert, and may provide new clues on the evolution, geo- graphical distribution as well as the host range of the badnaviruses.