Application of crab shell chitin or pentamer chitin oligosaccharide to Arabidopsis seedlings increased toler- ance to salinity in wild-type but not in knockout mutants of the LysM Receptor-Like Kinasel (CERK1/LysM R...Application of crab shell chitin or pentamer chitin oligosaccharide to Arabidopsis seedlings increased toler- ance to salinity in wild-type but not in knockout mutants of the LysM Receptor-Like Kinasel (CERK1/LysM RLK1) gene, known to play a critical role in signaling defense responses induced by exogenous chitin. Arabidopsis plants overexpress- ing the endochitinase chit36 and hexoaminidase excyl genes from the fungus Trichoderma asperelleoides T203 showed increased tolerance to salinity, heavy-metal stresses, and Botrytis cinerea infection. Resistant lines, overexpressing fungal chitinases at different levels, were outcrossed to lysm rlkl mutants. Independent homozygous hybrids lost resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, despite enhanced chitinase activity. Expression analysis of 270 stress-related genes, including those induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and chitin, revealed constant up-regulation (at least twofold) of 10 genes in the chitinase-overexpressing line and an additional 76 salt-induced genes whose expression was not elevated in the lysm rlkl knockout mutant or the hybrids harboring the mutation. These findings elucidate that chitin-induced signaling mediated by LysM RLK1 receptor is not limited to biotic stress response but also encompasses abiotic-stress signaling and can be conveyed by ectopic expression of chitinases in plants.展开更多
文摘Application of crab shell chitin or pentamer chitin oligosaccharide to Arabidopsis seedlings increased toler- ance to salinity in wild-type but not in knockout mutants of the LysM Receptor-Like Kinasel (CERK1/LysM RLK1) gene, known to play a critical role in signaling defense responses induced by exogenous chitin. Arabidopsis plants overexpress- ing the endochitinase chit36 and hexoaminidase excyl genes from the fungus Trichoderma asperelleoides T203 showed increased tolerance to salinity, heavy-metal stresses, and Botrytis cinerea infection. Resistant lines, overexpressing fungal chitinases at different levels, were outcrossed to lysm rlkl mutants. Independent homozygous hybrids lost resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, despite enhanced chitinase activity. Expression analysis of 270 stress-related genes, including those induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and chitin, revealed constant up-regulation (at least twofold) of 10 genes in the chitinase-overexpressing line and an additional 76 salt-induced genes whose expression was not elevated in the lysm rlkl knockout mutant or the hybrids harboring the mutation. These findings elucidate that chitin-induced signaling mediated by LysM RLK1 receptor is not limited to biotic stress response but also encompasses abiotic-stress signaling and can be conveyed by ectopic expression of chitinases in plants.