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Synergistic interaction among begomoviruses leads to the suppression of host defense-related gene expression and breakdown of resistance in chilli

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology volume 100, pages 4035–4049 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Chilli (Capsicum sp.) is one of the economically important spice and vegetable crops grown in India and suffers great losses due to the infection of begomoviruses. Conventional breeding approaches have resulted in development of a few cultivars of chilli resistant to begomoviruses. A severe leaf curl disease was observed on one such resistant chilli cultivar (Capsicum annuum cv. Kalyanpur Chanchal) grown in the experimental field of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Four different viral genomic components namely, Chilli leaf curl virus (DNA A), Tomato leaf curl Bangladesh betasatellite (DNA β), Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (DNA A), and Tomato leaf curl Gujarat virus (DNA B) were associated with the severe leaf curl disease. Further, frequent association of these four genomic components was also observed in symptomatic plants of other chilli cultivars (Capsicum annuum cv. Kashi Anmol and Capsicum chinense cv. Bhut Jolokia) grown in the experimental field. Interaction studies among the isolated viral components revealed that Nicotiana benthamiana and chilli plants inoculated with four genomic components of begomoviruses exhibited severe leaf curl disease symptoms. In addition, this synergistic interaction resulted in increased viral DNA accumulation in infected plants. Resistant chilli plants co-inoculated with four genomic components of begomoviruses showed drastic reduction of host basal (ascorbate peroxidase, thionin, polyphenol oxidase) and specific defense-related gene (NBS-LRR) expression. Our results suggested that synergistic interaction among begomoviruses created permissive cellular environment in the resistant chilli plants which leads to breakdown of natural resistance, a phenomenon observed for the first time in chilli.

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Acknowledgments

A. K. Singh acknowledges the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, for providing the Senior Research Fellowship. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Department of Biotechnology, India (Grant no. BT/PR/6504/AGII/106/878/2012). We thank Pranav Pankaj Sahu and R Vinoth Kumar for their suggestions and critical comments on the manuscript.

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    1. Molecular Virology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110 067, India

      Ashish Kumar Singh, Nirbhay Kushwaha & Supriya Chakraborty

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    1. Ashish Kumar Singh
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    2. Nirbhay Kushwaha
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    Correspondence to Supriya Chakraborty.

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    Ashish Kumar Singh and Nirbhay Kushwaha contributed equally to this work.

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    Singh, A.K., Kushwaha, N. & Chakraborty, S. Synergistic interaction among begomoviruses leads to the suppression of host defense-related gene expression and breakdown of resistance in chilli. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 4035–4049 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-7279-5

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    Keywords

    • Geminivirus
    • Synergism
    • Chilli
    • Resistance breakdown
    • Host gene expression