The root meristem growth factor BrRGF6 positively regulates Chinese cabbage to infection of clubroot disease caused by Plasmodiophora Brassicae

Abstract

Chinese cabbage has a high annual demand in China. However, clubroot disease caused by the infection of Plasmodiophora brassicae seriously affects its yield. Transcriptome analysis identified a root meristem growth factor 6 (BrRGF6) as significantly up-regulated in Chinese cabbage roots infected with Plasmodiophora brassicae. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization analysis showed higher BrRGF6 expression in susceptible materials than in resistant materials. After Plasmodiophora brassicae infection, BrRGF6 expression was significantly up-regulated, especially in susceptible materials. Gene function analysis showed that the roots of Arabidopsis mutant rgf6 grew faster than the wild-type, and delayed the infection progress of Plasmodiophora brassicae. A Protein, nuclear transcription factor Y subunit C (BrNF-YC), was screened from yeast two-hybrid library of Chinese cabbage induced by Plasmodiophora brassicae, and verified to interact with BrRGF6 by yeast two-hybrid co-transfer. Yeast one-hybrid and β-Glucuronidase activity analysis showed that BrNF-YC could directly bind to and strongly activate the promoter of BrRGF6. Transgenic verification showed that BrRGF6 or BrNF-YC silenced Chinese cabbage significantly decreased the expression of BrRGF6, accelerated root development, and reduced incidence of clubroot disease. However, after overexpression of BrRGF6 or BrNF-YC, the phenotype showed a reverse trend. Therefore, BrRGF6 silencing accelerated root growth and enhanced resistance to clubroot disease, which was regulated by BrNF-YC.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the English scientists of Elixigen Company (Huntington Beach, California) for English language editing. This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 31972412; 32272717].

Author contributions

Conceptualization, WG, JZ and RJ; Data curation, WG and JZ; Formal analysis, WG, ZJ and RJ; Funding acquisition, RJ; Investigation, JZ, YW, and WG; Methodology, JZ and WG; Supervision, RJ and HF; Writing-original draft, WG and ZJ; Writing-review & editing, WG and RJ. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and within its supplementary data.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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