An Overview of the Molecular Genetics of Plant Resistance to the Verticillium Wilt Pathogen Verticillium dahliae

Abstract

Verticillium dahliae is a soil-borne hemibiotrophic fungus that can lead to plant vascular disease and significant economic loss worldwide. Its hosts include over 400 dicotyledon plant species, such as annual herbs, perennials, and woody plants. The average yield loss of cotton crop caused by Verticillium wilt is approximately 10-35%. As the control of this disease is an urgent task for many countries, further understanding of the interaction between plants and V. dahliae is essential. Fungi can promote or inhibit plant growth, which is important; however, the most important relationship between plants and fungi is the host-pathogen relationship. Plants can become resistant to V. dahliae through diverse mechanisms such as cell wall modifications, extracellular enzymes, pattern recognition receptors, transcription factors, and salicylic acid (SA)/jasmonic acid (JA)/ethylene (ET)-related signal transduction pathways. Over the last decade, several studies on the physiological and molecular mechanisms of plant resistance to V. dahliae have been undertaken. In this review, many resistance-related genes are summarised to provide a theoretical basis for better understanding of the molecular genetic mechanisms of plant resistance to V. dahliae. Moreover, it is intended to serve as a resource for research focused on the development of genetic resistance mechanisms to combat Verticillium wilt.

Keywords: Verticillium dahliae; plant resistance; resistance-related genes; vascular plant diseases.

Figure 1

Regulation of intracellular signalling-related genes and signal transduction-related genes in response to Verticillium dahliae in plants. Plants have developed a sophisticated immune system to defend against V. dahliae. Plant cells immediately trigger signal transduction, leading to a rapid defence response including large-scale transcription reprogramming, while they recognise microbial-related molecular patterns or internal effectors from V. dahliae. , phosphorylation; CRY2, cryptochrome 2; ET, ethylene; GCC-box, ethylene-responsive element binding factor associated amphiphilic repression domain; GSH, phi-class glutathione; HDTF1: homeodomain transcription factor gene 1; JA, jasmonic acid; JAZ1, Jasmonate Zim-domain1; NBS-LRR, nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat; PevD1, an elicitor from V. dahliae; SARD1, the Arabidopsis master immune regulator; SA: salicylic acid; Spd, spermidine; Spm, spermine; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SA, salicylic acid; VdSCP41, a secretory protein from V. dahliae [7,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. Red lines represent negative regulation and green lines represent positive regulation.