CsCOI1 regulates plant growth and defense in citrus

Abstract

Jasmonates (JAs) play essential roles in plant development and defense. JA perception and responses remain elusive in citrus. Here, we identified core components for JA perception in citrus and elucidated transcriptional changes associated with JA signaling in growth and defense. We showed the F-box protein CORONATINE INSENSITIVE1 (COI1) in citrus is a JA receptor, as Cscoi1 mutants are insensitive to methyl jasmonate and CsCOI1 interacts with CsJAZs in the presence of JA-Ile. CsCOI1-mediated JA signaling represses shoot growth while enhancing resistance to insects. Consistently, CsCOI1 represses the expression of growth promoting genes such as PIF7, while upregulating genes related to defense metabolites in terpene and flavonoid pathways. Additionally, JA signaling antagonizes salicylic acid (SA) signaling at the transcriptional level and promotes susceptibility to citrus canker disease. This study highlights the role of JA signaling in balancing growth and resistance to biotic stress in citrus, revealing critical trade-offs for consideration in precision citrus breeding.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China granted to Q.X. (numbers32525008, 32494781 and U23A20198), the National Key Research and Development Program of China granted to Q.X. (number 2022YFF1003100), Key project of Hubei provincial Natural Science Foundation to Q.X. (2025AFA006), Key S&T Projects in Nanning city to Q.X. (20232078), the Foundation of Hubei Hongshan Laboratory granted to Q.X. (number 2021hszd016), and fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

Author contributions

Q.X. and G.H. designed the experiments. Q.X., G.H., M.K., M.N., and Z-C.L. write the main manuscript text. G.H. generated transgenic plants and performed phenotype analysis, subcellar localization analysis, insect assay and bioinformatics analysis. B.L. conducted pull-down experiments and participated in phenotyping. K.Y. measured the susceptibility to citrus canker disease. W-K.Z. performed the metabolic analysis. Y.Z. conducted MeJA treatment. C-X.T. constructed vectors. R-H.Y. and D-Y.H. participated in oil glands and cambium cell analysis. All authors have reviewed the manuscript.

Data availability

Raw sequencing data have been deposited in NCBI and National Genomics Data Center (NGDC, https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/). The BioProject numbers in NCBI are PRJNA1216034 (RNA-seq) and PRJNA1216035 (WGS). The BioProject numbers in NGDC are PRJCA035634 (RNA-seq) and PRJCA035635 (WGS).

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Supplementary data

Supplementary data is available at Horticulture Research online.

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