miR395-APS1 modulates grape resistance to Botrytis cinerea through the sulfur metabolism pathway

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in various physiological activities in plants. However, their role in protecting grapes against gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) invasion remains largely unexplored. This study focuses on the phenotypic and physiological responses of 'Shine Muscat' (Vitis vinifera × V. labrusca) to gray mold infestation. High-throughput sequencing implicates several miRNAs, including miR398 and miR319, involved in the plant's defense mechanisms. Notably, miR395 emerges as a key player, positively influencing grape disease resistance. Specifically, miR395 downregulated the expression of its target gene APS1, which encodes ATP sulfurylase, a crucial enzyme in the plant's sulfur metabolic pathway. Concurrently, ATP sulfurylase downregulation increased the content of sulfate ions and glutathione (GSH). These findings were corroborated by our study of APS1. Collectively, these results suggest that miR395-APS1 modulates sulfur metabolism in grapes, thereby enhancing resistance to B. cinerea. The observed miRNA-mediated interactions between grapes and B. cinerea elucidate the role of miR395 in grape resistance to gray mold and offer new insights into the molecular mechanisms of grape disease resistance.

Keywords

Grape / Gray mold / miR395 / APS1 / Sulfur metabolism

Author contributions

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: experiment conception and design, experiment conduction, data analyses, draft manuscript preparation: Xiang Y, Yuan H; manuscript revision: Ma C, Li D, Hu Q, Dong Y, Kačániová M, Ban Z, Wu B, Li L. All authors contributed to the discussion, reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available upon request. Additionally, the omics datasets have been deposited in the China National Center for Bioinformation (www.cncb.ac.cn) under the project code PRJCA032469. All data related to this manuscript and its supporting materials are available in this paper.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos U2003213 and 32472399) and the Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. 2021C02015) for financial support.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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