Involvement of a hypersensitive-like reaction in tolerance to fire blight in pear (Pyrus communis L.)

Hamid ABDOLLAHI; Francesca LUZIATELLI; Marco CIRILLI; Eleonora FRIONI; Eddo RUGINI; Maurizio RUZZI; Rosario MULEO*

doi:10.5897/AJB2014.13739

African Journal of
Biotechnology

Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
Language: English
ISSN: 1684-5315
DOI: 10.5897/AJB
Start Year: 2002
Published Articles: 12487

Full Length Research Paper

Involvement of a hypersensitive-like reaction in tolerance to fire blight in pear (Pyrus communis L.)

Hamid ABDOLLAHI

Hamid ABDOLLAHI
Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy; Department of Horticultural Research, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, 31585, P.O. Box 4119, Karaj, Iran.
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Francesca LUZIATELLI

Francesca LUZIATELLI
Department for Innovation in Biological Agro-food and Forest systems, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
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Marco CIRILLI

Marco CIRILLI
Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
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Eleonora FRIONI

Eleonora FRIONI
Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
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Eddo RUGINI

Eddo RUGINI
Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
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Maurizio RUZZI

Maurizio RUZZI
Department for Innovation in Biological Agro-food and Forest systems, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
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Rosario MULEO*

Rosario MULEO*
Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
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Article Number - 4922C9445882
Vol.13(28), pp. 2840-2849 , July 2014
https://doi.org/10.5897/AJB2014.13739

Received: 17 February 2014
Accepted: 13 March 2014
Published: 09 July 2014

Abstract

Infection by Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight (FB) disease, induces in apple and pear host plants, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). We analyzed at molecular level, the link between ROS production and susceptibility to bacterial infection. Gene expression time course showed that expression of chloroplast, mitochondrial and nuclear genes, whose transcription is redox-dependent, was down regulated or suppressed in tolerant cultivar, Harrow Sweet, in comparison with susceptible cultivar, Williams. Monitoring of oxidative burst by localization of hydrogen peroxide showed that oxidative burst was triggered faster in tolerant cultivar in response to infection. These results suggest that transcription of some redox-dependent genes of cytoplasmic organelles and nucleus, in the two cultivars, is regulated faster in the tolerant cultivar than in the susceptible one.

Key words: Chloroplast, electron transport Chain, Erwinia amylovora, mitochondria, Pyrus communis, redox.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: DAB, 3,3´-Diaminobenzidine; DEPC, diethyl pyrocarbonate; ETC, electron transport chain; FB, fire blight; Fd, ferredoxin; DspA/E, disease specific type III effector protein; GSSG, glutathione disulfide; Hrp, harpin protein N and W; PCD, programmed cell death; PEP, plastid encoded RNA polymerase-PEP enzyme; PQ, plastoquinone; PSI, photosystem I; PSII, photosystem II; PTK, plastid transcription kinase; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SLFs, sigma-like transcription factors.