Characterization of the LOV1-Mediated, Victorin-Induced, Cell-Death Response with Virus-Induced Gene Silencing

Victoria blight, caused by Cochliobolus victoriae, is a disease originally described on oat and recapitulated on Arabidopsis. C. victoriae pathogenesis depends upon production of the toxin victorin. In oat, victorin sensitivity is conferred by the Vb gene, which is genetically inseparable from the Pc2 resistance gene. Concurrently, in Arabidopsis, sensitivity is conferred by the LOCUS ORCHESTRATING VICTORIN EFFECTS1 (LOV1) gene. LOV1 encodes a nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat protein, a type of protein commonly associated with disease resistance, and LOV1 "guards" the defense thioredoxin, TRX-h5. Expression of LOV1 and TRX-h5 in Nicotiana benthamiana is sufficient to confer victorin sensitivity. Virus-induced gene silencing was used to characterize victorin-induced cell death in N. benthamiana. We determined that SGT1 is required for sensitivity and involved in LOV1 protein accumulation. We screened a normalized cDNA library and identified six genes that, when silenced, suppressed LOV1-mediated, victorin-induced cell death and cell death induced by expression of the closely related RPP8 resistance gene: a mitochondrial phosphate transporter, glycolate oxidase, glutamine synthetase, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and the P- and T-protein of the glycine decarboxylase complex. Silencing the latter four also inhibited cell death and disease resistance mediated by the PTO resistance gene. Together, these results provide evidence that the victorin response mediated by LOV1 is a defense response.