The role of phytochromes in Nicotiana tabacum against Chilli veinal mottle virus

Abstract It has been reported that phytochrome A (phyA) and phytochrome B (phyB) are potent regulators of plant defense. However, the mechanisms that phytochromes use to interfere with plant resistance to viral infection remain largely unclear. In this study, Chilli veinal mottle virus (ChiVMV) was used to investigate the role of phytochromes in response to biotic stress. Our results showed that the phytochromes mutant phyAphyB28 plants displayed more serious necrosis and dwarf phenotypes compared to that of wild type plants (WT) after ChiVMV infection. qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses indicated that the expression and accumulation of ChiVMV were higher in phyAphyB28 mutants than that in WT plants. The leakage (EL) and the content of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) suggested that phyAphyB28 mutants suffered more severe membrane damage than that of WT plants. In addition, extensive ROS accumulated in phyAphyB28 mutants after ChiVMV infection, whereas ROS production in WT plants were much less than mutant plants. The activities of antioxidant enzymes were down-regulated in phyAphyB28 mutants when compared with that in WT plants under ChiVMV infection. Besides, the contents of endogenous SA, JA and the expression of both hormones signaling related genes were lower in phyAphyB28 mutants compared to that in WT plants. Application of exogenous SA and JA could alleviate disease symptoms. Taken together, these results demonstrated that phyA and phyB positively regulated plant defense responses to ChiVMV infection and this process was dependent on the SA and JA defense pathways.