TY - JOUR
T1 - Chitosan increases Pinus pinaster tolerance to the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) by promoting plant antioxidative metabolism
AU - Silva, Marta Nunes da
AU - Santos, Carla S.
AU - Cruz, Ana
AU - López-Villamor, Adrián
AU - Vasconcelos, Marta W.
N1 - Funding Information:
This article was supported by the project “POINTERS - Interactions between nematodes and host pine trees: the discovery of sustainable alternatives for the management of the pine wilt disease”, funded by the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031999) and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia under its OE component (PTDC/ASP-SIL/31999/2017). The authors would like to thank Dr. Manuel Mota for providing the nematode strain HF. This work was also supported by National Funds from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the scientific collaboration under the Project UID/ Multi/50016/2019, and through A.L.V.’s scholarship funded by the Galician government (Ref.: 530 IN606B).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - The pine wilt disease (PWD), for which no effective treatment is available at the moment, is a constant threat to Pinus spp. plantations worldwide, being responsible for significant economic and environmental losses every year. It has been demonstrated that elicitation with chitosan increases plant tolerance to the pinewood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causal agent of the PWD, but the biochemical and genetic aspects underlying this response have not been explored. To understand the influence of chitosan in Pinus pinaster tolerance against PWN, a low-molecular-weight (327 kDa) chitosan was applied to mock- and PWN-inoculated plants. Nematode population, malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase, carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, lignin and gene expression related to oxidative stress (thioredoxin 1, TRX) and plant defence (defensin, DEF, and a-farnesene synthase, AFS), were analysed at 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days post-inoculation (dpi). At 28 dpi, PWN-infected plants elicited with chitosan showed a sixfold lower nematode population when compared to non-elicited plants. Higher levels of MDA, catalase, carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, and lignin were detected in chitosan-elicited plants following infection. The expression levels of DEF gene were higher in elicited plants, while TRX and AFS expression was lower, possibly due to the disease containment-effect of chitosan. Combined, we conclude that chitosan induces pine defences against PWD via modulation of metabolic and transcriptomic mechanisms related with plant antioxidant system.
AB - The pine wilt disease (PWD), for which no effective treatment is available at the moment, is a constant threat to Pinus spp. plantations worldwide, being responsible for significant economic and environmental losses every year. It has been demonstrated that elicitation with chitosan increases plant tolerance to the pinewood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causal agent of the PWD, but the biochemical and genetic aspects underlying this response have not been explored. To understand the influence of chitosan in Pinus pinaster tolerance against PWN, a low-molecular-weight (327 kDa) chitosan was applied to mock- and PWN-inoculated plants. Nematode population, malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase, carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, lignin and gene expression related to oxidative stress (thioredoxin 1, TRX) and plant defence (defensin, DEF, and a-farnesene synthase, AFS), were analysed at 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days post-inoculation (dpi). At 28 dpi, PWN-infected plants elicited with chitosan showed a sixfold lower nematode population when compared to non-elicited plants. Higher levels of MDA, catalase, carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, and lignin were detected in chitosan-elicited plants following infection. The expression levels of DEF gene were higher in elicited plants, while TRX and AFS expression was lower, possibly due to the disease containment-effect of chitosan. Combined, we conclude that chitosan induces pine defences against PWD via modulation of metabolic and transcriptomic mechanisms related with plant antioxidant system.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100869239&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-021-83445-0
DO - 10.1038/s41598-021-83445-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 33580134
AN - SCOPUS:85100869239
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 11
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 3781
ER -